The Flight of a Rose
by GhostPhoenix113
Summary: Lieutenant Weiss Schnee is on the fast track to being the commander of the air group on board the Remnant Federation's flagship. That is until a hotshot pilot, fresh out of the academy, comes in and takes the spot ahead of her. What will happen when she and her new leader are thrust into a conflict that will span the stars? White Rose sci-fi AU.
1. Ch 1: The New Girl

"Ambush!"

The word rang out clear as a bell within the R.F.S Beacon's Combat Information Center {**A/N***}, even as it started to quake under multiple impacts.

"Attention all hands, this is the Captain, we are under pirate attack. All hands to battle stations, all hands to battle stations. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill," the ship's captain said into the intercom.

The ship's Executive Officer{**A/N***}, Commander Glynda Goodwitch, looked over to him.

"Shall I give the order to launch fighters, sir?" she asked, too which he simply nodded.

* * *

Lieutenant Weiss Schnee was already sprinting to her fighter when the intercom went off again.

"Attention on the flight deck, this is the X.O," Commander Goodwitch called. "Launch all available fighters, repeat, launch all available fighters for emergency intercept."

Weiss stopped for a brief moment to admire her fighter. One of the first brand-new F-290 Paladin class light fighters to roll off the line, it truly was a marvel of engineering. It was armed with four particle cannons, two of which were embedded in the wingtips, with the other two under the nose, hardpoints for two missile racks, each capable of holding two missiles, a shield generator that was capable of surviving twice the damage of earlier generations, and was capable of out-turning even the fastest of the previous generation of fighters. Weiss's was painted a shimmering white with the image of a small flower underneath the cockpit, with the word _Myrtenaster_ emblazoned in a pale blue across the stem.

Weiss climbed the ladder into the cockpit and sealed it shut. She tapped a few controls, and her HUD shimmered to life in front of her eyes.

"Ice Queen, ready for launch!" She called into her helmet.

"Copy," the flight deck controller replied. "Moving you into the tube now!"

Weiss's fighter lurched slightly as it was pulled into the launch tube. Weiss made one last brief check over her fighter's systems while waiting for the remaining fighters to get ready.

"Weapons..check," she thought aloud. "Engines...check...shields...check...cooling systems...check...fuel...this should be enough."

"All fighters ready for launch!" a voice in her helmet crackled.

"Copy," another voice replied, this one belonging to the Beacon's commander of the air group {**A/N***}, "All fighters, _launch!_"

Suddenly, Weiss was thrown back in her seat as her fighter was flung out of the launch tube. Taking a quick glance around to get her bearings, she saw the usual blackness of space completely obscured by flak fire and heavy cannon blasts. There were at least four pirate Taijitu-class destroyers surrounding the Beacon, whose shields were shimmering a brilliant blue underneath the onslaught they were facing, but still holding strong. She quickly picked out a fighter that was starting a strafing run on the Beacon as her target and turned her fighter to engage it. Even as her particle cannons began to shred the fighter before her eyes, she saw still more fighters beginning to engage her fellows. It was going to be a long battle.

* * *

Weiss felt her fighter shudder slightly as she landed it on the carrier's flight deck. She jumped down the ladder and to the floor, where two of the other squadron leaders were already waiting for her.

"'Sup Ice Queen," Yang said as she walked over. "Nice work out there today."

"You as well Yang," Weiss said with a nod.

"You really saved my hide from those two Beowolves," Yang said, before she laughed a little. "I swear, Ember Celica may be able to take a few hits, but turning is really not her strong point."

"Well, you shouldn't have chosen to fly a heavy fighter then," Blake replied.

"Yeah, but have you _seen_ the cannons on the Bullhead? I can practically take out a frigate with those things!"

"I have seen them," Weiss replied. "And I still prefer maneuverability over raw firepower. All the damage in the galaxy makes no difference if you can't get your guns to line up on target."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Anyway, you guys seen the CAG? I needed to talk to him."

Weiss looked at her feet. "He died during the fight."

Yang's eyes widened. "Oh hell. When?"

"He was about to make a strafing run on one of the destroyers when a lucky railgun shot punched through his cockpit."

"Damn. 'Least it was quick then," Yang said with a heavy sigh.

Blake nodded as she took off her helmet, revealing a pair of cat ears underneath. "I believe you're next in line for promotion, are you not?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," Weiss replied.

"Well, you _are_ the ship's top ace," Yang said. "It'd make sense for you to be promoted."

"I suppose we'll just have to wait for the captain to-" Blake started before she was interrupted by the intercom.

"Attention all hands, this is the Captain speaking. We will be returning to port due to losses among the fighter group, as well as to refuel and resupply. When we arrive, all personnel are granted shore leave for the duration. That is all."

Weiss sighed. "Well, I guess we'll find out who the CAG is later then."

* * *

_Equalizing local pressure with exterior atmospheric conditions_, the R.F.S. Beacon's {**A/N***} synthesized voice called calmly as Weiss stepped into the airlock. The door hissed open, revealing the clean halls of the Remnant Federation shipyards. Weiss stepped through and was about to look for a shuttle to the surface when she heard someone speak behind her.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant?" a young sounding voice called out. "Is that the airlock for the R.F.S. Beacon?"

Weiss turned around and saw a young woman with short, black-and-red hair and silver eyes looking at her.

"Why?" Weiss asked, her tone a little icy.

"Well, I have orders here to report to the captain of the Beacon for assignment." She began to dig through her pockets. "If you'll just give me a moment, I can-"

"Don't bother. Yes it is the Beacon," Weiss said, rolling her eyes slightly. "However, the captain may not be aboard, as we will all be on shore leave for the next day or so while we restock and refuel."

She looked crestfallen. "Well, you wouldn't be able to tell me where I could find him then?"

Weiss shook her head in exasperation. "No, I would not. He may still be in the CIC, but short of that, I have no idea."

"Thanks Lieutenant!" the girl said. "See you on board!"

When the girl turned to run off, however, Weiss thought she saw a Lieutenant Commander's insignia on her shoulder.

_No way_, Weiss thought. _There's no way she out-ranks me. She hardly looks like she could have completed academy training with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. And she certainly acts like she just completed training too._ she sighed. _I guess I'll just have to wait and see_.

* * *

Lieutenant Commander Ruby Rose stepped through the clear door that lead to the CIC, and saw a single man standing in front of the tactical display table.

"Erm, excuse me, sir?" she called nervously. "I was ordered to report to the Captain of the R.F.S. Beacon?"

The man turned around and looked at the girl, revealing a captain's insignia as he did so.

"And you are?" he asked.

Ruby stood at attention and saluted. "Lieutenant Commander Ruby Rose, sir."

He nodded and returned the salute. "Welcome aboard the R.F.S. Beacon Lieutenant Commander. Regrettably, I don't have enough time to go over with you what your duties will be here right now as I need to go meet with the Admiral, but I'll be able to give you a full briefing tomorrow. Meet me on the flight deck at oh-eight-thirty tomorrow."

Ruby saluted again. "Aye, aye sir."

Ruby turned on her heels and walked back through the doors. She began to wander through the halls, admiring the sleek, clean interior of the ship. It was a far cry from the several-decade-old cruiser she had served on during the wargames at the end of her academy training. She eventually found her way down to the flight deck, where her fighter, an F-290 Paladin, was already being towed into the hangar. she walked over to the craft and placed her hand on it. It was painted in a shimmering black that made it look almost as if it were made from solid obsidian with crimson trimming from the cockpit to the main engines, as well as more trim along the leading edges of the craft. Beneath the cockpit there was painted the image of a rose, with a stem the ended in a scythe's blade. Underneath the image read the words "Crescent Rose."

"Quite a ship you got there," someone said from behind Ruby.

"Thanks!" Ruby replied without turning around. "I've actually done a lot of tuning on her. Had a bit of a reputation at the academy for being able to both fly fighters and tune them so they fly even better."

"Hah, sounds exactly like someone I know."

Ruby turned around to see a woman with excessively long blonde hair, purple eyes, and a goofy grin that said that she already knew who she was talking to.

"Yang!" Ruby shouted, and sprinted over to hug her sister.

"How'er ya doing sis?" she asked with a slight laugh as she broke from the hug.

"Great! I had no idea you were assigned to the Beacon!"

"Could say the same thing about you, ya know. What squadron posting did you get?"

Ruby shrugged. "Dunno yet. Captain said he'd brief me tomorrow on what my duties'll be."

Yang glanced down at Ruby's uniform. "Wait a minute. Did you complete training as an LC?"

"Yeah, thanks in no small part to my leading my ship's fighter wing in Operation Black Flag {**A/N***}. Why?"

The blonde shook her head. "Oh man, Ice Queen is _not_ going to be happy about this."

"Ice Queen? And what won't she be happy about?"

"'Ice Queen' is Lieutenant Weiss Schnee, top scoring ace on the boat. She-"

"_That_ Ice Queen? She's all anyone ever talked about in the academy! Oh man, it's gonna be so cool to fly with her!"

Yang sighed. "I wouldn't say that, but yeah, that's her. Anyway, our previous CAG bought it in our last engagement today, and she was expecting to replace him. But, it looks like you're going to be the replacement."

Ruby cocked her head. "How do you know?"

"Your rank. Lieutenants are squadron leaders, Ensigns are flight leaders, and enlisted personnel are simply pilots. Which leaves the Lieutenant Commander as-" {**A/N***}

"The CAG," Ruby finished, starting to sound a little worried. "But I'm not sure I'm ready to do something like that. I mean, I literally just got here from the academy."

"Well, 'long as you can keep Ice Queen under control, you should do just fine," Yang replied, giving Ruby a smile.

"I hope so," Ruby replied glumly. "Anyway, You wouldn't happen to know about how long the resupply is going to take, would you?"

Yang shook her head. "Nah, not my job to know. Should be done by tomorrow afternoon though."

* * *

"I can't _believe_ I lost out on the CAG post to some fresh-out-of-the-academy nobody!" Weiss practically shouted through the flight deck after Ruby had finished introducing herself to the other pilots. {**A/N***}

"Woah, calm down there, snow angel!" Jaune said, holding his hands up in an effort to defend himself.

"Please, Weiss," Pyrrha said, "I'm sure command has good reason for assigning her."

"I sincerely _doubt_ that. Seriously, she looks like she won't last a minute when the shooting starts. Not to mention she sounds like she'll just turn tail and run at the first sight of trouble."

"Hey, that's my sister you're dissing!" Yang shouted as she walked up to Weiss.

"Really?" Weiss asked suspiciously.

"Yeah," Yang replied, her hand beginning to curl into a fist, "So I recommend that you shut up before I do something that you're going to regret."

Weiss backed up a little. "Alright, fine, I'll give her a _chance_," she replied before muttering, "I certainly won't be expecting much though."

"Hey, ummm...Is there a problem over here?" Ruby asked as she walked over.

Weiss shot her a glare and stormed off.

"No, ma'am," Pyrrha replied. "Lieutenant Schnee just has some...concerns over your combat piloting abilities."

Ruby looked crestfallen. "Oh. Well, I guess I can kinda understand where she's coming from. I mean, I technically haven't had any actual combat experience yet."

"Eh, don't worry about her, sis," Yang said. "She 's always been a bit of a stuck up bitch."

"Yang!" Pyrrha interjected.

"Besides, that's what Black Flag was about. Giving you some combat experience without actually putting you in combat. I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Guys, I said don't worry about it," Ruby sighed. "Besides, I heard we might have a mission tomorrow. I think we should focus on that."

* * *

Weiss watched as Ruby stood at the front of the briefing room, looking over the many pilots who sat in around her wearing bored expressions.

"All right, listen up everyone," She called out. "I know there are a few of you who doubt I can handle myself in a fight." Weiss, who was sitting at the very front of the room, rolled her eyes. "Well, you all will get to test that theory today. At thirteen-twenty hours today, we are going to be engaging a Pirate Nevermore class Carrier that has been raiding the Sigma Ceti trade route from the Voltana system. Reports indicate it has a full complement of fighters, so expect us to be numbered about three-to-two against." Ruby tapped a command on the table behind her and brought up a map of the area that the battle was going to take place in. "Plan will be to have Spartan, Valhalla, and Black squadrons engage the enemy bombers to prevent them from hitting the Beacon. If they manage to launch their torps, focus on those first and foremost. All remaining fighters will be tasked with engaging the enemy fighters to hopefully clear a path for our own bombers, or at least keep them away from theirs long enough for the Beacon's cannons to destroy the carrier itself. Any questions?"

Someone next to her raised his hand. "Yeah, whose _brilliant_ idea was this? I mean, I could come up with a better plan in my _sleep_!"

"It was the captain's idea," Ruby muttered, looking rather annoyed. "To be quite honest, I'd prefer to set up a skirmish line in front of the Beacon and hold position to intercept the enemy bombers as they approach, then engage the pirate fighters while our own bombers do their work on the carrier when the enemy bombers are down. But these are the orders we've been given. Anyone else?" Nobody else raised their hands. "All right then," Ruby finished. "Combat ops begin in about twenty minutes. Go ahead and get to your fighters."

Weiss got up from her seat and began to follow the others out of the room. They walked through the hallways, eventually making it through the doors to the hangar deck. As Weiss stepped through, she saw a new fighter among the group, a black-and-red Paladin with the words "Crescent Rose" around an image of the same flower. _That must be her fighter_, Weiss thought to herself. _She made a good choice. Though I do have to wonder why anyone would replace the particle cannons on the wings with gatling cannons. The limited ammo they have is going to force her to need to land during an extended engagement._ Weiss sighed. She was about to walk over to her own fighter when she saw the girl nearly fall off of the ladder leading into her cockpit, causing Weiss to roll her eyes. _Looks like she probably won't last long after all_.

* * *

Ruby silently swore to herself as she nearly fell off the ladder leading to her fighter. _Really? NOW you do this to me?_ she thought angrily. With a sigh, she resteadied her self on the ladder and climbed into the cockpit. She activated her HUD and gave her fighter's systems a quick check over before signaling the ground crew that she was ready to be placed in the launch tube. He fighter jolted slightly as it was towed away and into launch position. As soon as the motion stopped, she pulled up her fighter's command display and confirmed that all of the other fighters were ready to go. With a satisfied nod, she opened a communication line to the bridge.

"Bridge, this is Reaper," she called. "All fighters are ready for launch."

"Copy Reaper, we're jumping to the battlezone now," the captain's voice crackled through her helmet.

Suddenly, Ruby felt a massive pulling sensation as the Beacon activated its jump drive. almost as soon as that stopped, another voice, this time belonging to Commander Goodwitch, came through her helmet.

"Attention on the flight deck, this is the XO," she said, "Launch all fighters, repeat launch all fighters."

Ruby smiled slightly as she was thrown back in her seat as the ship's catapults launched her fighter into space. Ruby looked around at the other fighters, watching them form into squadrons and preparing to engage. Off in the distance, near an asteroid field, sat the hulking form of a pirate Nevermore class carrier. The twin flight pods hanging on the sides were already beginning to disgorge their fighters, and the ship was slowly beginning to creep towards the Beacon.

"All fighters, this is Reaper," Ruby called. "Form up into your squadrons and prepare to engage. Marking contacts for each squadron now. You are weapons free as soon as they're in range."

The other fighters formed up around her, letting her take the leading edge of the formation. Ruby's cockpit was completely silent aside from her breathing as the two waves of small craft approached each other. Suddenly, the space all around her burst to life with brilliant light as the two formations opened fire. Ruby flipped her fighter around with a growl as she picked out a target and began to pursue it. Her fighter weaved in and out of numerous smaller skirmishes as she pursued her prey. Finally, after leading her on a lengthy chase, Ruby had the target in range. She squeezed the trigger on her flight stick, cutting loose with a barrage of fire from her particle cannons, followed closely by a hail of bullets that spat out of the gatling cannons in what amounted to a solid wall of cannon fire. Ruby smiled with grim satisfaction as the pirate's ship simply fell apart underneath the barrage that Ruby had fired into it. As Ruby rolled her fighter through the debris clod, she started to look around for another target. when she saw a certain white fighter about to be in a very bad spot.

* * *

"Ice Queen, you've got two...no...three Beowolf fighters on your tail!" a voice in her helmet called.

"Shit," Weiss muttered as her fighter started to take several hits. "Can't lose them! Can I get some cover here?"

Her fighter shuddered a little from another hit. _Alert,_ the ship's synthesized voice spoke, _aft shields down to fifty percent_.

"Copy, this is Reaper," Ruby's voice crackled through her helmet, "I see 'em, coming in to engage now."

_Anyone but her!_ Weiss thought. _I'd really rather risk getting shot down than worrying that this idiot will run into me due to her inexperience._

Suddenly, a pair of explosions rocked her fighter. Weiss turned her head to look behind her, fully expecting to find the entire rear half of her fighter gone. Instead, she saw the debris of two fighters already sailing past her, and the third beginning to come apart, shredded by a hail of particle cannon and gatling gun blasts, as a fighter that could only belong to Ruby flew between Weiss and the one remaining fighter on her tail. Ruby's fighter swung around its prey, it's guns still trained even as Ruby moved in a completely different direction from where she was facing.

"Ice Queen, this is Reaper," Ruby said again as the last fighter completely fell apart, "You're all clear."

Weiss sighed gratefully. "Copy Reaper," she replied. "Looks like you might have a couple on you now. Need a hand?"

"Negative, I can handle 'em."

Weiss watched as Ruby's fighter flipped around faster than it should have been able to, while continuing to move in its previous direction, and let loose with another barrage of fire, this time shredding the two fighters that were pursuing Ruby. _So, it seems I was wrong about this girl_, Weiss thought to herself as she watched the impressive display. _I should probably apologize to her when we get back aboard._

"All squadrons that have completed your objectives, call off!" Ruby said. "Red Squadron, ready!"

Weiss looked at her sensors display to make sure all of her squadron's targets were down. With a satisfied nod, she replied, "White squadron, all targets neutralized."

* * *

"White squadron, all targets neutralized." Weiss's voice crackled through Ruby's helmet.

Yang spoke up next. "Yellow squadron, all of our targets bought it. What's next boss?"

Ruby thought for a moment before tapping several commands into her flight computer. Before long, a line appeared in her heads up display, showing throttle percentages, facings, and vectors of travel.

"All available fighters, I'm sending you a flight and engagement path," Ruby called. "Form up and move in."

"Attack the carrier?" Someone called. "Are you insane Reaper? Look at all of the flak that thing is putting out!"

"Just follow the flight plan," Ruby replied. "Trust me! You'll be fine. As soon as you get in range, start firing everything you've got at the carrier. Guns, missiles, I don't want anyone coming home with extra ammo. Come on!"

Ruby's fighter sped toward the carrier. The other pilot was right. The ship really was spitting out a lot of flak. Combined with the fact that Ruby's flight plan had them flying directly between the two broadsiding warships, the odds of survival were remote at best. Ruby just smiled and started to hum an old song to herself as she followed the flight path. As soon as she passed beside the carrier, she decoupled {**A/N***} her controls and flipped her fighter so that she would keep moving in her original direction, but still be able to fire at the carrier. She squeezed the trigger, and rounds began to hit the massive ship's shields causing them to glow a dim red. Just the fire from one fighter would never be enough to crack them, but soon, more fighters joined in, laying a veritable wall of fire into the pirate's shielding. Ruby hoped it would almost be like getting stung by a bee: one is but a minor annoyance. But one-hundred could very well kill. And kill it did, because after several long seconds of fire, the shield shimmered brightly, then suddenly disappeared, and the weapons fire started to chip away at the carrier's hull. Ruby watched as several heavy particle cannon blasts from the Beacon slammed into the hull of the carrier, tearing massive holes open in the ship. Eventually, the ship's structure simply couldn't take the punishment it was receiving any more, and it simply started to fall apart.

Ruby's helmet was filled by the cheers of her flightmates, as well as the congratulations of some who had doubted her plan to assist the Beacon would work out. Ruby smiled, knowing that she had just earned her place on the ship when suddenly her helmet crackled with a single transmission from the captain.

"Reaper, this is the captain," he said, sounding distinctly furious. "See me as soon as you are aboard."

Ruby paled. _That's not good_, she thought too herself.

* * *

**A/N: So, here's the story I teased in my latest chapter in A Lone White Rose.**

**First off, the story A/N's (in order of appearance):**

**Combat Information Center (CIC): Nerve center of the ship. Where the captain calls the shots.**

**Executive Officer (X.O.): Second-in-command on the ship**

**Commander of the Air Group (CAG): Leads the ship's fighters in combat.**

**R.F.S. : Remnant Federation Ship**

**Operation Black Flag: A simulated combat mission at the end of academy training in this universe. Basically, it puts recruits into a simulated combat situation that turns "real" but is in actuality still just a simulation. Designed to give the recruits combat experience without putting them in combat. Think "Ender's Game" in reverse.**

**Fighter compliments are divided into three groups in this universe: Flights (generally four fighters each), Squadrons (four flights each for sixteen fighters total), and Wings (the full compliment of fighters on a ship). The Beacon has 8 squadrons, so it holds 128 fighters.**

**Ranks in this universe are based solely on merit, no term of service required. So, if a fresh-out-of-the-academy individual proves to be an extremely competent starship captain, they're going to place him directly in the CIC. Flag officer ranks (those above Captain) must still be earned in the field, though also have no term-of-service.**

**Decoupled: Separated movement vector from ship facing. basically, you can move in one direction whist your nose faces in a completely different one.**

**Anyways with those done and over with, I actually had this idea while playing Star Citizen. If you love space games, then Google it. Seriously. You won't be disappointed.**

**Also, for those who are concerned that I'm abandoning A Lone White Rose, I'm not. Really. I'm not even CLOSE to done with that one yet. I still have at LEAST seven more chapters in the current arc alone (all of the currently released chapters are a part of the same arc), and I've still got two more major plot arcs after that after that. I just had this idea and I wanted to get it down on paper(?) before I lost it. It'll just be on rotation with this one for until one of them finishes. If they finish. yeah...**

**Anyways, up next, A Lone White Rose: Chapter 11: Snowed In!**

**Oh, and yes, the tune Ruby is humming when she goes to strafe the pirate carrier is totally Red Like Roses.**


	2. Ch 2: Revelations

Weiss was walking in front of the door leading to the captain's quarters when she heard the distinct voice of the captain yelling through the door.

"I don't know how they did it in the academy, Rose, but I will not have you wasting the lives of your fellow pilots so you can play hero!"

"But, sir," a much quieter voice, clearly belonging to Ruby, replied, "I had the entire maneuver calculated! As long as they followed the flight plan, they would have-"

"And what if they didn't follow your 'flight plan?'" A pause. "I rest my case."

"Well, sir, if I hadn't sent any of my pilots, the Beacon might have taken some hull damage. I mean, the shields were already down to about fifty percent when-"

"Quiet!" the captain yelled, even louder than before. "I will say this only once! You will toe the line on this ship, or you will be scrubbing the decks of the Remnant shipyards! Do I make myself perfectly, crystal, clear?"

"Yes, sir!" Ruby replied. Weiss almost thought she heard the girl crying.

"Good. Now get the hell out of my sight!"

Ruby stormed through the door and nearly ran into Weiss.

"Sorry Lieutenant, I didn't see you there," she said, her voice cracking a little. "Is there something you need?"

"No, ma'am," Weiss replied politely. "I was just on my way to my quarters."

"Very well," Ruby said as she turned to leave, but Weiss placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Ma'am, I feel I should apologize," Weiss started.

Ruby sighed. "You have nothing to apologize for, Lieutenant Schnee."

"Actually, I do," Weiss stated, looking down at her feet. "When I first heard that you were the CAG, I had immediately assumed that you would prove inept and get us all killed. Instead, you proved to not only be a capable combat pilot, but also managed to prove the fact that you can easily manage the entire wing of fighters on board. So, consequently, I do owe you an apology."

Ruby smiled. "Thanks Weiss. I really appreciate it. Especially after..." Ruby paused.

"Just so you know," Weiss said, "I'm not going to make this a habit."

Ruby laughed. "Don't worry, I've already heard that you have an image to uphold."

"Good," Weiss stated. "How much longer until your patrol shift?"

"Not until oh-eight-hundred tomorrow, why?"

"Well, it's custom aboard the Beacon for the ship's top scoring ace to buy a drink for the newest ace on the ship. And, if I recall, you got five kills during your last mission, correct?"

Ruby nodded. "Well, actually six, but yeah."

"So, then it seems I owe you a drink."

* * *

Ruby threw back another drink and nearly fell over the bar in the officer's mess when she put the glass down.

"Ruby, are you alright?" Weiss asked her.

"Yer really pretty," the she slurred in reply.

Weiss blushed a little. _Did she really mean that? I mean, she is drunk...But some are more truthful when they're drunk_."Ruby, you're drunk," Weiss said finally.

"And you're blushing," Ruby replied, her words still barely understandable. "You're so cute when you blush."

She and looked at the clock on the wall. _Twenty hundred. And her patrol shift is at oh-eight-hundred. It would be a good idea for her to get some sleep before tomorrow_. "Come on, let's get you back to your quarters before you do anything stupid."

Weiss rolled her eyes as she grabbed Ruby's arm and wrapped it around her shoulder. She stood from her seat and began to walk over to the doorway, followed by the stares of several other crew members. Weiss shot them each a glare, causing them to all look back to what they were doing, and Weiss walked through the door. Eventually, she managed to find her way to the section of the ship that held the officer's quarters. Spotting Ruby's last name, she walked over to the sliding door and placed Ruby's hand on the control, causing the door to hiss open automatically. Weiss looked around the room, which had several unpacked boxes, but was as of yet still undecorated.

"Hey, when did we get back to my quarters?" Ruby asked tiredly, as Weiss gently set the girl down on her bed.

"Just now," Weiss replied.

"Oh, thanks Weiss," she slurred as she closed her eyes with a smile. "You're really awesome."

_I should probably stay here with her,_ Weiss thought to herself as she found a single chair to sit down on. _At least until she's asleep. It is, afterall, partially my fault she's like this._

Weiss listened as Ruby's became slower and steadier. She found herself smiling as she watched the younger pilot drift off to sleep. Weiss settled back in the chair and closed her own eyes.

_I suppose it wouldn't hurt to stay here a little while longer just to make sure she's all right,_ she thought.

* * *

Ruby winced as she woke up, feeling like someone had decided to cleave her head open with a battle-axe.

_Ugh, I really need to learn to not drink that much,_ she thought to herself. _I will have to thank Weiss for getting me back here though._

Suddenly, she remembered what she had told Weiss just before they had left the officer's mess. _Aw, crap. That was probably the worst possible way for that to come out._

Ruby looked around her room until her eyes fell upon the aforementioned pilot. _Why is she still here? _Ruby thought to herself. Just as she finished that thought, however, Weiss's eyes began to flutter open.

"Ruby?" Weiss whispered as she looked at the black-and-red haired girl, "Are you alright?"

"Not really," she replied with a wince. "Why are you here, by the way? I mean, not that I mind, it's just..."

Weiss blushed. "Well, you were really drunk, and I helped you back to you room. I must have fallen asleep here."

"I remember, but thanks anyways," Ruby replied, giving her a weak smile. "What time is it?"

Weiss pulled out her scroll and looked at the clock on the display. "Oh-five hundred. You've still got a few hours before our patrol shift."

Ruby sighed. "Good, maybe I can get rid of this headache in that time."

"Out of curiosity, how much do you remember of last night?" Weiss asked after a brief pause.

"Heh, funny story about that," Ruby said, blushing a little. "I tend to remember almost everything I did while drunk."

"So, you remember..."

"Calling you pretty? Yeah..."

Weiss blushed again. "Did you actually mean it?"

Ruby sighed. "Well, I'm also generally honest when I'm drunk. So..."

"You actually meant it," Weiss confirmed.

"Yeah..."

Weiss sighed. "So that means that you're a lesbian?"

"Yup." Ruby chuckled a little before holding her head in a desperate attempt to stop the throbbing pain. "Not really how I wanted that to come out, but oh well. You don't...You don't mind, right?"

"Why would I?" Weiss asked. "You've already proven yourself as a capable combat pilot."

"Well, I know there's still some people out there who believe that I would start...coming on to them," Ruby said sadly.

"Ruby, let me put it this way for you:" Weiss stated. "The only thing that matters to me or anyone else on board is your skill. You've already proven yourself more than capable in that department. Furthermore, it would be hypocritical of me to think of you negatively for being gay, since I am as well."

"Y-You are?"

Weiss nodded. "Yes," she replied before chuckling a little. "I actually asked your sister out on a date a few days after I was assigned to the Beacon."

"Man, what a way to learn that she's straight, huh?" Ruby said with a laugh.

_She's certainly looking much better now,_ Weiss thought as she laughed a little as well. "Well, I suppose that's one way of looking at it." Weiss chuckled. "Anyway, you're starting to look a bit better."

"Feeling better too. Thanks, Weiss," Ruby replied, giving her a small smile. "Anyway, I should probably get up and get some breakfast before we have to go out on patrol. We're still pretty deep in pirate territory, so the _last_ thing I want to be worried about is my stomach growling while vaporizing pirates."

* * *

Ruby yawned as she took one last look around the space outside of her cockpit. _Man, I would have thought that we'd at least see a fighter squadron here this deep into pirate controlled space._

She keyed her comm link. "All active fighters, this is the CAG, stand by to return to the ship as soon as the next patrol is out." Her helmet echoed with a chorus of replies. With a sigh, Ruby leaned back in her seat. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a brilliant flash of light, followed by several more. She flipped her fighter to face that direction.

"Oh shit," she muttered. "All units hearing this transmission, this is Reaper! Multiple pirate warships inbound! One Ursa-class cruiser, and three Taijitu-class destroyers!"

"Reaper, this is the Beacon, roger that. Launching all fighters now," the captain replied.

"Sir, with all due respect," Ruby said, "I don't think it's a good idea for us to stay here and fight. There's far too many of them."

"Your concern has been noted, Lieutenant Commander," he replied, anger lacing his voice.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "All fighters, form a skirmish line between the pirates and the Beacon. Range, twenty-hundred. Divert all power to your fore shields."

Ruby watched outside her canopy as all of the Beacon's fighters formed a wall between the incoming pirates and their home base. The front of each fighter began to shimmer a pale blue color as they directed all of their shield power to the side that would be facing the brunt of the pirate's fire. The lights from the pirate's engines slowly started to grow larger. Ruby closed her eyes and started to count silently to herself.

_Three...Two...One..._

"Fire!" she yelled into her helmet.

The space all around her blazed to life as bullets, particle gun shots, and laser blasts illuminated the night sky. The wave of pirate fighters flew past the line Ruby's fighters had formed and turned around. All at once, The fighters belonging to the Beacon flared their main engines and maneuvered away from each other, quickly turning around to engage their foes.

Ruby picked out a target that seemed to be turning a little sluggishly as compared to its comrades. She locked her fighter's speed to match her prey's, and cut loose with a barrage of fire across its nose. Suddenly, the fighter flipped around, presenting its well armed front to Ruby, causing her to have to quickly pull away. Soon, she was on the defensive, as the pirate followed her every move. Ruby threw her craft left, then right, and the pirate continued to follow her.

"Reaper, you've got one on your tail!" Weiss's voice crackled through her helmet.

"Yeah, I can see that, Ice Queen!" Ruby yelled back.

"Holy shit, I think that's Payday!" Yang said.

"Payday?" Ruby asked as she yanked her fighter into an evasive roll. "Who's Payday, Inferno?"

"Top pirate ace," Yang replied. "Real name's Roman Torchwick. Supposed to have somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty kills. Navy's actually got a pretty impressive bounty pool for whoever bags 'em. You might wanna get outta there, Reaper!"

Ruby smirked, even as more of the pirate's plasma cannon blasts sailed over her head. Thinking quickly, she strafed her fighter up slightly and pulled her craft into a sudden stop, causing her to start to feel light-headed. Even as her vision began to grey out, however, the pirate surged in front of her, and Ruby punched her fighter back up to combat speed. She followed the Pirate as he ducked and weaved through the battle as well as in to a small asteroid field that was in the area. After what felt like several minutes of pursuing the fighter, Ruby finally had the pirate in her sight. She depressed the trigger on her flight stick, and a barrage of gatling and particle cannon blasts surged away from her fighter, cleaving into the pirate's shields. They shimmered a brilliant red, and suddenly dropped, allowing Ruby's projectiles free rein to do their work on the pirate's hull until finally, the ship died in a fiery explosion.

"Holy shit. Did you just..." Yang started.

"Very good work, Reaper," Blake said calmly.

"Thanks, Shadow," Ruby replied as she turned her ship back to the fight.

"Attention all fighters on this net!" her helmet crackled suddenly. "Multiple torpedoes inbound on the Beacon! Any available units, respond immediately!"

Ruby looked at her sensors display and swore silently to herself when she saw all of her fellow pilots still locked in a tight battle with the pirates. She looked again for anyone who appeared to be in good shape before finally finding one unit of fighters.

"Black squadron, flight three, break off you current engagement and go help the Beacon out with those torps!" she called.

"Copy!"

"White squadron, flight one, pick up the slack left by Black three!"

"On it!" Weiss replied.

Ruby continued to weave through the fight, occasionally taking a shot at a pirate fighter here and there. Several moments later, she heard a frantic yell through her helmet.

"One torp got through!" one of the pilots she had sent to help the carrier called, "Beacon control, evade, evade!"

Ruby looked over to the warship, and watched begin to turn ponderously away in a desperate attempt to evade the torpedo. _Too late,_ she thought, just as the projectile slammed into the ship with a brilliant flash. When the blast cleared, there was significant damage to the hull, as well as a large hull breach spanning multiple decks. Her helmet was silent for what felt like a long time.

Finally, Commander Goodwitch spoke up. "Attention all hands, this is the X.O. The Captain has been killed in action, I repeat the Captain is down. I am hereby taking overall command of the Beacon and attached fighter units. Lieutenant Commander Rose, do you have any units that you can break off the fight?"

Ruby studied her sensors display. "I can pull two squadrons, why?"

"Stand by. Flight deck, launch all available bombers. Reaper, I want you to escort those bombers to the pirate warships so that we can end this engagement quickly and before we take any more damage."

"Yes ma'am," Ruby replied. "Red Squadron, White squadron, form up on me. All other fighter squadrons, fill in the gap."

Ruby flared her engines and sped toward the carrier and away from the main dogfight. She watched intently as the wave of bombers gently floated out of the landing bay on the bow of the ship and formed up for an attack.

"I hope you've got an idea for getting those bombers to the enemy fleet!" Weiss yelled through her helmet.

Ruby thought for a moment before an idea came to her. "All bombers, this is Reaper, maintain velocity at two-hundred meters per second. All fighters, form into an ellipsoid formation around the bombers, zoom to two-hundred meters per second, decouple, point your nose out away from the formation, and direct all power to your forward shields. If any pirates get closer than fifteen hundred, vape 'em. Otherwise, don't break formation until I say so!"

Ruby's placed her fighter at the head of the formation and pushed every last ounce of power she could into her forward shield, causing it to glow outside of her canopy. The formation slid implacably forward, obliterating any pirates that happened to get close. Finally after what felt like an eternity, they were finally right on top of the pirate fleet.

"All fighters, break now!" Ruby called. "All bombers, launch everything you've got!"

Ruby's fighter sped away from the formation of bombers and watched with grim satisfaction as the torpedoes launched from the bomber wing. Though the projectiles were slow, the bombers were more than close enough that their targets simply could not maneuver away from or intercept the torpedoes. They slammed into the hulls of the pirates, causing brilliant explosions as their antimatter warheads annihilated their targets. When the blasts cleared, nothing remained of the pirate fleet aside from several clusters of debris.

"Beacon control, this is Reaper, all hostile warships have been eliminated," Ruby called.

"Affirmative," Commander Goodwitch replied. "Once you have finished with the enemy fighters, return to base."

* * *

Ruby stood near the fighter launch tube, where a coffin sat as though it were about to be launched out, wearing her formal dress uniform. It was black as the sky just beyond the hull of the ship, with gold trimming. On her shoulder shimmered her rank insignia, though this set was made of metal, as opposed to the cloth of her regular uniform's set. Ruby sighed as she took her place next to the other senior officers of the Beacon.

"Attention on deck!" the commander of the Beacon's marine complement called.

Commander Goodwitch stepped forward. As she did so, all of the other personnel who had gathered bowed their heads, and Ruby followed suit.

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality," Commander Goodwitches voice rang out clear as a bell in the silent hangar deck. "Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all else, infinite in distance and unbound by death." The coffin slid through the tube and out into the inky blackness of space as Commander Goodwitch finished. "I release your soul."

The gathered personnel flashed a parade-perfect salute, then slowly started to file out. Ruby continued to stand there, letting out a sad sigh as she did so.

"Hey," a voice called from behind her, causing Ruby to jump a little.

"Weiss, hey," Ruby replied as she turned around, "Sorry, didn't hear you there."

"Are you all right?" Weiss asked.

Ruby shook her head. "I just feel like I could have done more, ya know? Maybe if I had sent another flight, or if I had been watching more closely at the Beacon's situation I could have-"

"Stop," Weiss said, "You did everything you could have done. You know it, Commander Goodwitch knows it, the rest of the crew knows it, and _I_ know it."

"You know it?" Ruby asked, her head tilted slightly.

Weiss blushed a little. "Yeah, I do. You've more than proven yourself. Eliminating Payday shows that you do truly know what you're doing here. Anyway, come on. We're going to be heading back to drydock for a little while because of the damage we suffered here, and to pick up our new captain."

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, okay," she replied. Weiss turned to walk away, but Ruby grabbed her shoulder to stop her "Hey, thanks again for helping back to my quarters last night."

Weiss rolled her eyes, even as a smile began to appear on her face. "You may be a good pilot, but you can be such a dunce sometimes."

"You can be such a dunce sometimes...?"

Weiss looked furious. "You can be such a dunce sometimes _ma'am_."

Ruby laughed. "Copy that, Lieutenant."

* * *

**A/N: 43 follows, 20 favorites, and six reviews in _five_ days. For the _first_ chapter. Damn. I just...wow...Seriously guys, you all are awesome. I _really_ was not expecting that level of support for this story. I mean...I would have been happy with a sixth of the following this story has already. Combine that with the fact that Lone White Rose is near the _top_ of page six of the most followed stories on this site? Really guys, you all are awesome.**

**Anyways, story stuff:**

**Yeah, Ruby and Weiss already know that they're gay. Honestly, I don't feel that this story could add much in that department without it feeling forced. Is it a bit of a cop-out? Yeah, but I'd rather have that than try to force something I don't really think would work well for the direction I'm taking this story. Plus, this has a bonus: More White Rose moments! What's not to love?**

**Also, yeah, Yang's straight here. No Bumbleby for you. Sorry, but once again, I think it would just feel forced given the direction I want this one's plot to go.**

**Anyways, with all that said, be on the look out for the next chapter to A Lone White Rose!**


	3. Ch 3: Shore Leave

Ruby sat and stared at a small picture on her desk. In the photo, she stood beside her mother, who was standing next to her fighter wearing her flight suit with a broad smile on her face, while a young Ruby sat in the cockpit, with her mom's helmet hanging at an odd angle on her head. Ruby smiled an laughed a little at the sight.

_Ah, good times_, Ruby thought to herself.

Suddenly, her door chimed, snapping her out of her reverie and causing her to sigh slightly.

"It's open!" she called.

"Ma'am?" Weiss said as she walked through the door. "We've arrived at the Vale Shipyards."

Ruby sighed again. "Thanks, Lieutenant Schnee," she replied.

"Of course, ma'am," Weiss replied politely as she turned to leave.

"Hey," Ruby called after her, "Umm...Do you mind walking with me to the airlock?"

Weiss nodded. "Sure. I imagine you're still kind of trying to get your bearings around here anyway, ma'am."

Ruby stood from her chair and followed Weiss out. "Y'know, you can just call me Ruby when we're not on duty," she said quietly.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "That's not exactly regulation, you know."

"Yeah, but neither are some of the mods I've got on my fighter," Ruby replied before perking up suddenly. "Oh! Like the gatling cannons! I've modded them to be coilguns instead of the usual chemical propellants, so they pack a lot more punch. Or the maneuvering thrusters, which get about twenty-percent more thrust each."

"How much did you modify your fighter, exactly?" Weiss asked.

"Quite a lot," Ruby replied. "About the only thing I didn't touch was the flight control system. The Paladin's stock system is pretty much the best out there."

"You do realize that my family's company produces the Paladin, right?"

Ruby nodded. "Schnee Aerospace, correct?"

"Yes."

"And you're in line to take over the company after your father retires, correct?"

Weiss shook her head. "No, I actually deferred to my sister, Winter, when I decided to join the military."

"Why? I mean, you could have been...like...the richest girl in the Federation!"

"Because," Weiss replied, starting to look a little angry, "I was tired of having to do only what my father wanted me to do. Plus, Winter was always more cut out for the business world than I am."

Ruby and Weiss stepped into the airlock together. _equalizing local pressure with exterior atmospheric conditions,_ the ship's computer called calmly as their surroundings hissed lightly.

"Geez, sorry, princess. All I meant was-"

"Well, look who it is," a soft voice came from near by. "Reaper herself."

Ruby turned over towards where the voice came from. Standing before her was a woman who had similar hair to her own, though slightly longer and more symmetrical, with the same shimmering silver eyes, and was clothed in a full military uniform with a Lieutenant Commander's insignia on her shoulders.

"Mom!" Ruby shouted, and ran over to hug her.

"Hello, Ruby," the woman replied politely as she returned the hug. "It's been far too long."

"Oh! Mom, this is Lieutenant Weiss Schnee," Ruby said as she broke out of the hug. "Weiss, this is my mom, Lieutenant Commander Summer Rose, the CAG on board the Haven."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant Schnee. I've heard a lot about you and your skill in the cockpit," Summer said with a slight nod to Weiss.

"Same to you, ma'am," Weiss replied with a salute. "I was not aware that Ruby was your daughter. She is a very capable pilot, and an excellent CAG."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from her," she said as she smiled at Ruby, making the younger Rose blush slightly. "Anyway, the Haven is due to set out in about an hour, so I need to get back aboard before Captain Ironwood starts looking for me. I'll see you soon, Ruby, and it was nice to finally meet you, Weiss."

"Same to you, ma'am. I hope to be able to work with you some day."

Ruby hugged her mom again. "See you soon, mom."

Both Weiss and Ruby watched as Summer walked away.

"So, why didn't you tell me that your mother was the top ace in the entire Navy?" Weiss asked as she and Ruby resumed walking.

"Well, you never asked," Ruby replied.

"Why do you act so childish all the time?"

"I do not act childish!"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Yes, you do."

"No, I don't!"

"Dolt."

"Princess!"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's go to the surface. It'll be a few days before the damage to the Beacon is repaired."

* * *

"Man, it's been _so_ long since I set foot on the surface of a planet," Ruby said as she walked off of the shuttle and stretched.

"What about when you were in flight school?" Weiss asked.

"I went to the Signal Deep Space Naval Training Academy," Ruby replied. "Emphasis on 'deep space' there, by the way. The station's at least five light years from the nearest habitable world."

"You went to Signal?"

Ruby nodded as she walked into the customs line. "Yeah, why?"

"I actually attended Signal as well when I was still a recruit," Weiss said as she walked up behind Ruby.

"Didn't know that," she replied as she pulled out her ID and showed it to the official, who simply nodded and let her past. "I had heard they renovated the station about a year ago. What was it like there?"

Weiss showed her ID to the customs official. "Well, for one, the station looked much older. The patch jobs that had been done over the years to keep it held together were really showing, it had quite a few exposed circuit panels, and the station defense grid was so outdated that it would have been all but useless against anything larger than a destroyer."

"Yikes," Ruby said with a wince as the official gave Weiss a nod. "Well, you'd be happy to know that it's improved quite a bit now."

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Weiss said. "Now come on, it's starting to get late. We should probably get going before it gets dark."

"What makes you say that?" Ruby asked as they walked through the spaceport's exit.

"The capital city tends to be...troublesome during the night. All manner of thugs and other lowlifes prowl the streets. We'd be much safer if we find somewhere to stay for the duration of our shore leave."

Ruby looked down at her boots. "Well...minor issue with that."

"Let me guess, you have nowhere to stay?" Ruby simply stood there continuing to look at her boots, causing Weiss to roll her eyes. "Fine, you can stay with me at my apartment in the city while we're here. Just don't make me regret it."

* * *

Ruby sat up slowly on the couch, her neck feeling extremely stiff thanks to her sleeping there. Looking around, she saw the door to Weiss's room still closed, indicating that the other pilot was not awake yet. Ruby stood with a sigh and walked over to Weiss's refrigerator.

_I wonder what she has to eat_, Ruby thought to herself as she reached for the handle before retracting her hand. _Then again, maybe she wouldn't take too kindly to me eating her food._

Ruby walked over to the window and looked out to the still dark street. _Heh, I guess being on a ship can really mess with your internal clock_, she thought to herself as she brought a chair over and sat down.

She stared out the window, watching as vehicles would occasionally pass by, illuminating the area with their lights. Ruby was so focused on watching the early morning occurrences outside that she jumped a little when she heard a door open behind her, causing her to glance over her shoulder.

"Oh, you're awake," Weiss muttered tiredly.

"Yeah," Ruby replied with a chuckle. "Military life'll do that to ya. Much as I want to sleep in, I really just can't anymore."

"Indeed," Weiss said as she walked into her kitchen area. "Would you like anything for breakfast?"

"Well," Ruby paused. "What do you have?"

Weiss opened the door and looked into her fridge before pulling back a little and shutting the door. "Suffice to say I have nothing good."

"What could be worse the food on the ship?" Ruby asked as she stood up and walked next to Weiss. She opened the door and stared in. "Ummm...Yeah, never mind. How long has it been since you've been here?"

"Long enough for lettuce to be able to grow hair," Weiss stated.

"I...Ummm...I don't think that's lettuce."

Weiss paused. "Even worse. Well, anyway, I'd rather get something to eat instead of staring at food that has been in there so long that it's mold has mold. Come on, i know a place that gives free food to military personnel."

* * *

"Man, you were right," Ruby said as she pushed her empty plate forward. "Those pancakes were delicious."

"Ren's family actually owns this place," Weiss said as she pushed her own plate forward.

"Ren? You mean Dragon, leader of Shinobi squadron?"

Weiss nodded. "Yes. That's why they give free meals to the military."

Ruby and Weiss stood from their seats and walked out of the restaurant. "So, did you hear that pirate attacks have been getting more and more frequent over the past few months?" Ruby asked as they walked along the street.

Weiss nodded. "I have. They still seem to be too random for this to be anything more than a brief occurrence, though."

Ruby thought for a moment. "I'm not so sure, though. They've been hitting closer and closer to the core worlds. Not to mention that several ships from the third and sixth fleets were seen participating in some of the attacks."

"Those sightings were never confirmed though."

"Doesn't change the fact that there seems to be something big brewing though."

"Maybe, Weiss replied with a shrug. "We're just a couple of pilots assigned to a warship, though. Only thing we can really do is go wherever our cap-ship goes, and see what's going on there."

Ruby nodded with a sigh. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

* * *

"Ma'am?" someone called from behind her. "I have news from the latest engagement."

Cinder turned around to stare the the green-haired girl. "Yes, Emerald?"

"Well, Torchwick, along with all of the ships you gave him and his raiders, were destroyed during the fight," Emerald replied, looking nervous.

"I see," Cinder replied as she turned back to the window and watched the dying star outside. "I don't suppose you have any good news for me?"

"Well, the R.F.S. Beacon was damaged during the fight. It looks like the ship will be out of action for about a week," Emerald replied, walking up next to Cinder.

"Very good. Was there anything else?"

"The new warship being constructed by the Federation will be complete in a few months. I recommend we move forward with the plan before that happens."

Cinder gave Emerald a wicked smile. "Have a little faith, Emerald," she purred. "By the time our plan is in action, there will be nothing they can do to stop us."

* * *

**A/N: Wild Plot appeared! Wait. Wrong IP. s***. Oh well. You get the idea. Sorry for the shorter chapter, as well as the fact that there wasn't any real "action" scenes with Ruby and co. tearing Pirate ships that have been named for Grimm into tiny, little, bite-sized, pieces. but this one is more of a set up for the main plot of the story. Which will be coming soon(tm). And, don't worry, it will be awesome. I hope. Could actually end up being terrible. Eh, that would be about par for the course really. 'Tis a sad life I lead. Oh well. Win some, lose the rest I guess. Is that the right saying? What was I doing again?**

**Honestly speaking, the hardest part of this story to write is actually the "idle" dialog between the action scenes, because it's really tough to keep Weiss acting...Weissy (that's a word) without getting her kicked out of the Navy for insubordination.**

**Anyways, watch for Chapter 13 to A Lone White Rose coming hopefully by Tuesday! Next stop: Weiss's Parents!**


	4. Ch 4: Falling Petals

"Captain on deck!" Commander Goodwitch called as the new captain stepped up to the podium that had been placed in the hangar deck. He had short, grey hair, brown eyes that seemed to watch your every move, and a face that was filled with a mix of emotions, from sadness to pride.

"I'll...Keep this brief," Captain Ozpin called, his voice ringing out clear and true through the hangar. "You are on this ship because you among the best men and women in the Navy. I am here to tell you that your best is not enough. Your skill has carried you far, but it will not carry you all the way. You must constantly strive to be better that your best was yesterday. If you do not, you will surely fall. You are the only one who can do this, so it is up to you to take the first step. Dismissed."

Ruby looked at her sister as Ozpin walked away.

"Well, that was...bracing," Weiss said with a wince.

"Anyone else think he didn't seem all there?" Yang said.

"He did seem a little distracted," Ruby said as she turned to follow the others out of the hangar deck. "Come on, we're going to be shoving off soon, so we should probably get ready. From what I heard, we're starting rotation with the Bravo shift for this deployment, so Blake, you and Yang may want to go ahead and get to your fighters."

Blake nodded as she turned to walk to the pilot's locker room. "Of course, ma'am. Have you heard where the Beacon is going to be on patrol?"

Ruby shook her head. "No, sorry. I guess we'll find out when we jump."

* * *

Ruby rubbed her forehead as she closed one of the panels on her fighter when suddenly the intercom blared.

"Attention all hands, this is the captain speaking," Captain Ozpin called, "We are going to be patrolling the Vega system, as there have been a number of attacks reported there over the past week. Stand by for phase jump {**A/N**} on my mark."

Ruby sighed and gripped one of the landing skids on her fighter. _I hate this part_, she thought with a grimace.

Suddenly she was overcome by a massive pulling sensation, as if she were being pulled towards both the front and back of the ship at the same time. Shaking her head as it stopped, the intercom blared again. "Bravo shift on duty. All other shifts, on stand by."

Ruby let out a sigh and went back to tuning her fighter. She climbed on top of the craft and pulled off a panel on one of the maneuvering thrusters.

Just as she was about to continue her work, a voice behind her called, "I thought I'd find you here," startling her just enough to fall from her fighter and to the deck.

Ruby turned around to see Weiss standing behind her trying to hold back a laugh.

"Not funny, Weiss!" Ruby said with a frown. "You nearly killed me!"

Weiss laughed. "Be more careful next time, you dolt."

Ruby sighed as she stood up and climbed on to her fighter again. "Was there something you needed?"

Weiss sighed as she slowly stopped laughing. "Just looking for you, ma'am. I thought you might need to take some time and relax."

"But this is relaxing!" Ruby protested.

"Why don't you come on down to the officer's mess? Ren is making pancakes."

"Nah, sot too much to do still," Ruby said as she leaned in to take a closer look at the thruster.

"Not even if I offer you another drink?"

Ruby rolled her eyes and turned to look at Weiss. "You _do_ remember what happened nearly two weeks ago when you did that, right, right?"

Weiss blushed. "You said I was, and I quote, 'really pretty,' then I had to carry you back to your quarters and wound up sleeping there with you."

"My point."

Now it was Weiss's turn to roll her eyes. "Whatever. You're going to burn out if you spend all of your free time working on your fighter. Besides, haven't you made enough modifications to it?"

"Always more I can work on though," Ruby quipped as she pulled out a few wires and stared at them intently. "Besides, in that last engagement before we went on shore leave, the number three maneuvering thruster wasn't putting out as much thrust as I needed it to, so I wanted to take a look at it."

Weiss climbed up beside her. "Here, let me take a look," she said.

Weiss leaned in closer to the thruster and started to look at the complicated arrangement of parts. "Ah, I think I see your problem. You've got the thruster itself working just fine, but your coolant system isn't hooked up properly. Without that, you ship computer is artificially limiting your thrust to prevent any damage from overheating." Weiss shifted a pipe, and twisted it in place once she had it where she wanted. "There, should be fixed now."

Ruby leapt down from the fighter. "Thanks Weiss!" she called. "I thought I had the coolant set up correctly. Guess I kinda messed that up, huh?"

Weiss shrugged as she jumped down beside Ruby. "Common mistake. The first several prototypes of the Paladin, which were hand-assembled, had the same problem."

"Well, thanks all the same," Ruby said with a smile. "Glad to know the second most beautiful girl on the ship is back in fighting shape."

"And who might I ask is the most beautiful?" Weiss asked.

Ruby just smiled at Weiss and walked away.

"Dunce," Weiss muttered under her breath as she started to blush, before following Ruby.

* * *

Ruby yawned as she sat back in her fighter and waited for Black and Yellow squadrons to launch. _Two weeks patrolling this sector so far and not even a single pirate fighter has shown up_. she thought to herself with a bored frown.

"Hey, Ice Queen?" she called "Is every patrol this _boring_?"

She could almost hear Weiss rolling her eyes. "You _clearly_ have no idea what shipboard life is like, Reaper," she replied. "Ever heard the saying 'the military is ninety-five percent boredom and five-percent sheer terror?"

"No?"

"Well, guess what? This part is the ninety-five percent. You're just going to have to get used to it."

"All right," Yang's voice echoed in Ruby's helmet, "You two lovebirds can go ahead and land."

"Yang!" Ruby yelled.

"What?"

"Ugh, never mind. Red squadron, White squadron, form up for landing. Beacon control, this is Reaper. Red and White squadrons requesting landing clearance."

"You're all clear Reaper. Welcome home."

Ruby sighed heavily and lowered her fighters landing skids as she lined up with the cavernous landing bay. She felt the craft shudder gently as it landed on one of the elevators mounted in the deck of the ship. She unbuckled her restraints, and looked around behind her to watch the other craft follow her down. As the last fighter touched down to the deck, she felt her own craft shudder again as it was lowered down into the hangar. As soon as she stopped moving, Ruby popped open the canopy and jumped out. She walked across the deck to where Weiss was just getting out of her fighter.

"What do you need, ma'am?" Weiss asked as she speed out of her cockpit.

"Just wanted to see how you were doing," Ruby replied with a smile. "And, I already told you that when we're not on duty, you can just call me Ruby."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Come on, I'm headed down to the officer's mess for lunch, if you want to join me."

"Sounds like fun!" Ruby replied as she and Weiss walked towards the hangar deck's exit.

The two pilots walked in silence for a few minutes before Weiss spoke up.

"Have you heard where we're going to be going when we're done patrolling the Vega asteroid belt?" she asked.

Ruby nodded. "Vega six. We'll be there for a week. Arctic world. Atmosphere is breathable, but it is beyond freezing there. A number of ships have been reported to have disappeared there."

"How many ships have disappeared?"

Ruby thought for a moment "At least one civilian freighter and a cruiser."

Weiss shook her head. "Where do they keep going?"

"Beats me," Ruby said with a shrug. "If I knew, they wouldn't be disappearing anymore. Oh well. Only thing we can do now is just wait until next week."

Ruby and Weiss continued walking for several more minutes before they finally arrived.

"Hey Weiss, can I ask you something?" Ruby requested as they sat down.

Weiss simply replied with a nod.

"Okay...ummm...What would you say if...hypothetically...I asked you out?"

Weiss started to cough heavily. "Well, aside from nearly _choking_ on my lunch," she said as she recovered. "Why would you ever want to go out with someone like me?"

"Well," Ruby replied as she stared at her own food. "Yeah, you can be a bit of a pain sometimes, but you're also very beautiful, smart, and you're an excellent pilot. I'm not sure why you don't have guys jumping you everywhere you go."

Weiss blushed. "Well, most people are actually intimidated by me and my family's reputation. Most people don't feel...worthy of my attention and those that do tend to be the type of people I try to avoid." She sighed heavily before giving Ruby a sly smile. "Well, anyway, to answer your original question, I _might_ just say yes. Depends on how I'm feeling at the time."

Ruby laughed. "I'll keep that in mind, then."

Weiss and Ruby ate in silence for several minutes before Weiss spoke up. "Ruby, I have a...personal question for you, if you don't mind."

"Go ahead. I'm an open book," Ruby replied.

"Well, it's about you and Yang..."

"You want to know how we're related, right?" Weiss nodded. "Pretty simple really. We...share the same dad. He was a bomber pilot assigned to the carrier R.F.S. Aura. That's where he met Yang's mom, who was an engineer on the ship. She died giving birth to Yang. Our dad was really broken up about it. It took him about a year before he recovered. That was when he met my mom, back when she was still just an ensign. She had just been reassigned to the Aura. He died during a battle with a pirate carrier about three months before I was born. Anyways, long story short, both Yang and I grew up as spacer kids raised by my mom, and here we are today."

"I'm," Weiss paused. "sorry to hear about your father and Yang's mother. I was not aware that had happened."

Ruby shrugged. "It's all right. Yang was pretty broken up about it when she found out a while ago, but we both have had plenty of time to heal. It does feel good to talk about it though."

"Glad I could help," Weiss replied with a small smile. "I know a can be, as you said, a pain, but I do consider you a friend."

"Or maybe more," Ruby said with a light laugh.

Weiss simply rolled her eyes as her face became tinted with a light red.

* * *

"We're wasting our time," the Beacon's helm officer called from his station. "We've spent four weeks in the Vega sector now, and we haven't seen _any _sign of pirate activity."

"Six civilian and two military ships have gone missing here in that time," the sensors officer replied from her post. "Something had to have happened to them."

"Yeah, but we've seen absolutely nothing from the ships that disappeared. Not even a trace of the ship's black boxes. Besides, we've already passed the location where most of the ships vanished, and we didn't find anything."

"Look, all I'm saying is...Wait a minute...Got a new vessel on long range sensors...Doesn't match any known signatures, but the size class would put it on par with a battle-carrier. Captain? What are your orders?"

Captain Ozpin sighed. "Reaper, this is Beacon Control, do you read?"

* * *

"Reaper, this is Beacon control, do you read?" Ruby's helmet crackled.

Ruby sighed. "I hear you Beacon control, go ahead."

"We detected a new contact at the edge of our sensor radius. I need you to go and check it out," Captain Ozpin said.

"Aye, sir," Ruby replied. "Ice Queen, form up on me."

"On my way," Weiss replied.

Ruby watched outside her canopy as the shimmering form of Weiss's fighter flew up next to Ruby's and matched her speed. The pair of craft flew in silence for a minute before Ruby finally spoke up.

"Private channel Ice Queen?" she called.

"Private channel, go ahead," Weiss replied.

"Weiss, I was wondering, the next time we're planet-side, would you like to go-"

"Hold that thought, I just got a lot of new contacts coming from that ship that the Beacon pointed us to," Weiss interrupted.

"Yeah, I'm seeing them too," Ruby replied as she studied her sensors display. "IFF is registering them as..." she paled. "Beacon control, this is Reaper! Numerous pirate fighters inbound from the ship!"

"Affirmative. Stand by, we're scrambling fighters," Ozpin replied.

"Ice Queen, come on, let's get back to the ship and form up with the rest of the wing."

Ruby and Weiss flew nearly wing tip-to-wing tip as they sped back to the Beacon. Ruby watched as a number of small ships surged away from the the ship. When they were finally in position, Ruby and Weiss flipped their fighters around and joined the formation.

"All fighters, this is Reaper," Ruby called, "Form into a skirmish line and hold just outside the Beacon's flak envelope. Fire at will as soon as the pirates are in range."

Ruby's helmet echoed with a chorus of affirmatives. She gritted her teeth as she rubbed her finger along the trigger of her flight stick, watching as the distance measurement on her selected target counted down. Finally, the counter flashed green, and Ruby flashed a grim smile as she depressed the trigger, causing her fighter to begin to shake a little under the recoil of its weapons. All around her, the other fighters assigned to the Beacon followed her example, and soon space was alive with the flashes of various weapons. The pirate fighter turned quickly to try and avoid the barrage that was being thrown at them, and several of them collided, resulting in a series of brief explosions.

"All fighters, break now!" Ruby called.

The formation broke apart as the Beacon's fighters surged forward. As Ruby wove around the dogfight, occasionally firing a burst of gatling cannon and particle gun fire at an enemy, she saw several military-grade fighters. Suddenly, there was the distinct bright flash of a missile passing by Ruby's canopy. She watched it for a moment as it followed another fighter, this one painted a shimmering white.

* * *

"Weiss, you've got a missile incoming!" Ruby's voice yelled through Weiss's helmet.

Weiss grunted as she pulled her fighter into a tight turn in an attempt to evade the deadly projectile.

"I can see that you dolt!" she yelled back as her vision began to tint grey due to the strain the turn was putting on her body.

"Pop flares!"

"Can't! I'm out!"

Weiss looked back and saw the projectile continuing to creep closer and closer. Suddenly, another fighter sped between Weiss's craft and the missile, and the projectile broke off its pursuit, choosing instead to follow the target that was generating more heat. Weiss turned her fighter to follow where the missile had gone, and saw it pursuing Ruby now. She watched with horror as the missile exploded against the shields of Ruby's fighter, followed closely by a barrage of fire from a nearby pirate fighter, which began to stitch its way up towards Ruby's cockpit. Nearby, Yang's fighter turned and opened fire on the Pirate, slamming a barrage of neutron cannon and particle gun blasts into the pirate's fighter causing it to explode.

"Reaper, are you alright?" Weiss called worriedly.

"I-gah...I've...been better," Ruby replied, strain obvious in her voice. "My main thrusters are out, I've only got the bottom side maneuvering thruster still working, and even that one has stopped articulating. I'm also-hnn...I'm...also drifting towards the planet. I've only got about fifty seconds before I hit the atmosphere."

"Reaper, punch out!" Yang yelled.

"Can't. One-agh...One of the rounds punched through the ejection lever," Ruby struggled out. "Also took one myself. Guess It's-ah...Guess It's a good thing these flight suits are both full EVA rated and self-sealing eh?" she gave a pained laugh.

"Dammit, Reaper this is no time for jokes!" Weiss said, beginning to tear up.

"When I get into Vega six's atmosphere, I'm gonna try to pull Crescent Rose into a glide. Not gonna be able to communicate though. To much interference from the magnetic field. My distress beacon might be able to punch through the interference though."

"Ruby, please..." Yang begged.

"Don't worry guys," Ruby strained. Weiss could almost see the pilots face pulled into a brave smile even as she spoke. "I'll be fine. Oh, and Weiss? I just wanted to tell you that I l-" Ruby's transmission broke off into static.

"Reaper? This is Ice Queen," Weiss choked out, "Come in. Reaper, come in please."

"All units, this is Captain Ozpin, we have additional pirate warships jumping in, and our position is compromised. We are falling back. All fighters, return to base. Repeat, all fighters, RTB. Emergency landings authorized."

"Ruby...please...don't leave." Weiss whispered. There was no response.

* * *

**A/N: Story notes:**

**Phase drive (phase jump): "Phases" a hole between two parts of space, allowing the ship to move through without completely breaking physics. How does it work? Well, to quote Michael Jones: Shut up. Don't ask questions.**

**Anyways, MOAR DRAMA! What happens next? Does Ruby survive, or will she freeze to death alone on the icy cold surface of Vega VI? You'll all just have to find out when I post the next chapter after I finish and post the next chapter of A Lone White Rose!**

****Also, I'm doing a lot of time skips in this story, even mid-chapter, as you saw. This entire entry takes place over the course of about four weeks total, because, as Weiss said, the military is mostly being bored out of your skull with extremely brief but intense moments of absurd terror. Never been in the military personally, but I have a few friends who are.****

**Look out for Chapter 14 of A Lone White Rose within a few days!**


	5. Ch 5: White Noise

She tightened her grip on the pistol as she crouched low in the bushes. When a lone person walked past her hiding place, she slowly stood and crept up behind them, before aiming and pulling the trigger.

"Sorry, friend," Ruby said as she walked towards a nearby pillar of smoke. "But I need to get some parts from that crashed pirate fighter, and you were sorta in the way."

Ruby crept along further until she finally found where the pirate fighter had crashed. She climbed on top of the wreck and lifted open an already broken panel to look at the electronics inside of the crashed ship.

"Gotta find this thing's distress beacon," Ruby muttered to herself as she dug through the fighter.

The inner workings were a jumbled mass, a far cry from the slightly chaotic, but still organized layout of her Paladin. Silently swearing at herself for taking so long, Ruby began to hurry when she heard a shout behind her.

"Hey! You! Get down from there and put your hands up!"

Ruby sighed as she once again prepared to reach for the pistol holstered at her hip.

* * *

"Look, captain, I _understand_ that she's your best pilot, but my recommendation still stands."

Captain Ozpin sighed as he stared at the image of Admiral Qrow on the screen in his quarters.

"With all due respect, sir, " he said, "She's a lot more than just my best pilot. She also shows promise as a possible candidate for commanding that new ship being constructed in Shadow of Light. Not to mention the fact that she _is_ your niece."

Admiral Qrow pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "Oz, it's been two days, and there's been no distress beacon detected. That leaves the following options: One: she's dead. As much as it pains me to say it, that is the most likely case, as going by the report you gave, likely could not have pulled her fighter into a glide. Two: She's been captured. If she has been captured, then they'll have already taken her back to their base, wherever that is. Judging by the reports we have of people that we've rescued, the things they'll do to her there...It'll take her years to mentally recover to the point where she would be able to lead a normal life, let alone continue her military career."

"Finally, the last option is that she's alive, still on planet, and her beacon was damaged. Now, a standard fighter distress beacon would be detectable through Vega six's magnetic field, though you wouldn't be able to get a pinpoint read on it. Knowing my niece, I imagine she'd probably be able to find a way to repair it. Even still, the pirates still have five warships in that sector. It would be suicide for you to jump your ship there if you remain a safe distance from the planet's gravity well," Admiral Qrow sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, Captain, but-"

"Sir, we just picked up a distress beacon coming from Vega six," Commander Goodwitch called over the intercom in Ozpin's quarters.

"Sorry, Admiral," Ozpin said with a light nod. "Go ahead, Glynda."

"Well, the signal's being scattered across a wide area by the planet's magnetic field, at least ten-thousand square kilometers. Also, the broadcast pattern matches standard Remnant Federation Navy protocols, but I'm detecting a pirate IFF attached to the signal."

"And you think it could be a trap?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Glynda replied. "It could be, based on the IFF, but the protocols used in the transmission were an exact match for Navy standard. No pirate transmission has been able to match our protocols that exactly. Furthermore, we all know how handy Lieutenant Commander Rose is when it comes to equipment, so she may have had to repair her distress beacon with parts from a pirate fighter."

"Hmm...What's your opinion, sir?" Ozpin said as he turned back to the monitor.

Qrow sighed. "Well, it's your ship, and she's your pilot. I still would recommend against doing this, though if you wish to attempt a rescue, you have my support. If any ships become available, and if you need the assistance, I'll send them your way."

"Thank you, sir," Ozpin said with a curt nod as he closed the channel. With a sigh, he tapped the intercom. "Glynda, could I speak with you privately? I have a plan to respond to that distress beacon."

* * *

"Come on, Weiss, you can't keep beating yourself up over this," Yang said as she sat down next to the white-haired pilot in the officer's mess.

Weiss shook her head. "It's my fault she went down. If I had been more careful with my flares, she wouldn't have had to take that missile for me," she sighed heavily. "Besides, I'm not sure why you're taking this so well. She's your sister after all. Or do you not really care about her?"

"First of all," Yang said, visible anger beginning to boil up in her eyes. "Say _anything _like that again, and I'll push you out of the nearest airlock myself. Second, I know my sister. If she says she'll pull her fighter into a glide, that's exactly what's going to happen. Her distress beacon was probably damaged in the fight is all. She'll signal us as soon as she can."

"How can you be so sure? She sounded like she was pretty badly hurt during her last communication."

Yang turned Weiss to face her and gave her a reassuring hug. "Because that's the only thing keeping me going," she whispered. "I love Ruby, but I wouldn't be doing her any favors by breaking down in my cockpit. So, I just get up and hope that we get a signal from her."

"Thanks, Yang," Weiss replied. "It's just that I've really grown to like the dolt over the past few weeks. I'd hate for her to die because of my mistakes."

"What do you mean by 'you've grown to like her?'" Yang asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Weiss stared blankly. "Dammit," she muttered.

Yang laughed. "Wow, first me, then my sister," Yang practically shouted. "People on this ship are gonna start talking, you know."

Weiss blushed and gave Yang a shove. "Would you shut up, you-"

"Attention all pilots from White and Yellow squadrons, report to the briefing room immediately. Repeat: All pilots assigned to White and Yellow squadrons, report to the briefing room."

"Well, that's our cue," Yang said with a grin. "Looks like we might be able to rescue your princess sooner than you thought."

"Brute," Weiss muttered as she stood up.

* * *

"Settle down everyone, we'll begin the briefing in just a moment," Commander Goodwitch called over the chatter of the gathered pilots. She tapped a few commands in the console at the front of the room and pulled up a display of the surface of Vega six. "As you all are aware, the commander of the air group went down during our engagement over Vega six two days ago. Just this morning, we picked up a distress beacon from the planet's surface. The signal matches standard naval distress protocols, though it has a pirate IFF attached. As a result, we will be deploying both White and Yellow squadrons to search."

"Now, when we detected the beacon," Glynda continued as she tapped several commands into the display, "it was scattered across ten-thousand square kilometers. Since then, we've been able to narrow that down to seventy-five hundred. All of your fighters have a homing signal uploaded to your computers. When you're on site, you will begin to hear a pinging noise. The closer you get to the source of the distress signal, the quicker the tempo. The signal will be connected to SWACS {**A/N**} Thunderhead, so make sure to remain in contact at all times. The Beacon will be running low-emissions in low orbit within the planet's ring system to help avert detection. If you need to communicate with the ship, you'll need to relay through Thunderhead, as your fighter's comms array won't be powerful enough to cut through the magnetic field. Any questions?"

"Yes, ma'am," Weiss called. "What do we do when we have confirmation where the distress signal is?"

Glynda thought for a moment. "First, try to determine if it is indeed one of our pilots, then signal the Beacon appropriately, and we will respond as with what the situation calls for. Anything else?" Nobody spoke up. "Very well then. This will be known as Operation Stray Sheep. Lieutenant Schnee, you will be CAG for the duration of the operation. We will be jumping in thirty minutes and the operation will commence immediately, so get to your fighters."

* * *

"Attention all hands, this is the captain, prepare for phase jump," Captain Ozpin called over both the intercom and Weiss's helmet communicator.

Weiss winced and gripped her fighter's flight stick tightly as the Beacon jumped to Vega six. Then, she felt the typical pulling sensation of the phase drive ripping a hole in space for a fraction of a second before it stopped and her helmet was filled with another voice.

"Attention White and Yellow squadrons, scramble now," Commander Goodwitch called. "Thunderhead, follow them out."

Weiss was thrown back in her fighter as she was catapulted into the inky blackness of space.

"All fighters, this is Ice Queen," she called. "Form up into your individual flights and prepare to dive into the atmosphere. Thunderhead, I want you orbiting the combat zone. Try to stay out of any fighting. Yellow squadron, flight four, you will be tasked with escorting Thunderhead. Everyone else, we'll be looking for the distress signal. Odds are the pirates are searching as well, so be ready for anything."

Weiss's helmet echoed with responses.

Weiss steeled herself. "All craft, dive into the atmosphere now!"

She pushed her flight stick forward and throttled up. Her fighter was quickly engulfed in a brilliant orange glow as it punched through the atmosphere. When it cleared, she was surrounded by the vast, shimmering landscape of the arctic world. She sighed for a moment, taking in the sterile, gleaming beauty of her surroundings. Shaking the feeling off, she glanced forward to her HUD.

"Thunderhead, this is Ice Queen, go ahead and activate the locators," Weiss called. "All fighters, break into flights and begin search."

Weiss's cockpit became filled with a slow, steady pinging. With a sigh, she pulled her fighter into a horizontal loop until the pinging picked up a little in pace. When she finally got a solid lead, she took off in that direction, pushing her fighter up to its maximum atmospheric speed.

"I've got a signal!" Weiss called as the pinging became even faster.

"Copy, Ice Queen," Yang replied, "You want us to head over to you?"

"Negative, keep searching, just in case my lead turns out to be a dud."

"Aight."

Slowly, the pings continued to pick up in tempo. Just as they nearly became constant, however, they completely stopped.

"Hey, my scanner's out!" One of the pilots called.

"Yeah, mine too!"

"Attention all craft, this is SWACS Thunderhead," he called. "We are detecting a pirate jammer craft in the area. You won't be able to continue your search until you take it down."

"Copy that. Anyone see it?" Weiss asked.

"Chopper here," one of the pilots called. "I see it, but I've got a Nevermore on my six. Not gonna be able to take it out."

"This is Archer," another pilot replied. I'm currently in pursuit of a pirate fighter myself, so I can't get to it."

"Dammit," Weiss muttered. "Hang on, I'll take it out."

She banked her fighter and accelerated until she saw the craft come into view. She narrowed her eyes, and squeezed the trigger, sending a flurry of particle shots at the craft. The ship's shield quickly failed, and the hull was almost immediately torn to shreds by the incoming hail of fire. Suddenly, the locator's pinging returned, and this time, it was almost completely constant now.

"Ice Queen to all craft, the enemy jammer is down," she called.

"Copy, this is Thunderhead, we're seeing the same thing here," the controller replied. "Ice Queen, you seem to be nearest to where the beacon's signal is coming from. Can you confirm that you have eyes on?"

Weiss banked her craft and fired several maneuvering thrusters to help keep her craft aloft. "Yes, I can see a wreck on the ground. Definitely looks like a Paladin." Weiss looked a little closer. "I can see small arms fire coming from both the tree line and the ship itself. There's also the image of a rose painted on the side of the ship."

"Hey, Ice Queen!" Ruby's decidedly cheerful voice came through Weiss's helmet.

"R-Ruby?" Weiss asked.

"The one-and-only!" Ruby laughed in reply. "I managed to set up a makeshift comms array here. Not very powerful, but it works. Hey listen-Yikes! I've got a few pirates giving me trouble down here. You think you could take care of them for me?"

"Where are they?"

"Over by the-Woah, that one was a little closer than I'd like. They're over by the tree line."

"I see them, coming in now," Weiss replied as she pulled her fighter in for a strafing run.

She overrode her missiles guidance systems so that they could fire without locking on to anything, and began to fly low over the trees. When she was finally in a good position to launch, Weiss fired two of her four missiles, and unleashed a barrage from her particle guns.

"Thanks, Weiss," Ruby said.

"Hang on, I'm coming in to land," Weiss said.

"Ummm...are you sure? I mean, the terrain is pretty rough here and-"

Weiss's fighter shuddered a little as its landing skids touched the ground right next to where Ruby's crashed fighter sat. "Yes, I'm sure," Weiss said as she climbed out of her cockpit and placed her helmet on the seat.

Ruby stood from where she was taking cover and limped over to Weiss. "Man, you should really change your callsign to snow angel," Ruby said with a laugh.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, other than the hole in my leg," Ruby said. "Although, suffice to say the painkillers they include in those survival kits work _really_ well."

"What happened?" Weiss asked worriedly.

Ruby shrugged. "Took a round from the pirate fighter that shot me down, remember?"

"Well, then we need to get you back to the Beacon!" Weiss said.

"Oh, I'll be fine, Weiss," Ruby said with a sigh.

Weiss rolled her eyes again. "Come on, you dunce, I'll signal Thunderhead." Weiss walked back to her fighter and put her helmet back on. "Thunderhead, this is Ice Queen, I've located Reaper. Sending coordinates now. Relay them to the Beacon asap."

"Thunderhead copys," he replied. "Coordinates received and sent."

"Good. Ice Queen, out." Weiss turned back to face Ruby. "You know, I just remembered, you were going to say something to me before you got cut off by the planet's magnetic field. Do you remember what it was?"

"Heh, yeah," Ruby said with a blush as she turned away from Weiss and scratched the back of her head. "You see the thing is...ummm...I...uhhh...I kinda...Oh, to heck with it."

Suddenly, Weiss found herself up against the body of the other pilot, who was kissing her fully on the lips. Weiss stood there startled for a moment, unsure of what to do, until she simply closed her eyes and kissed Ruby back. Both pilots stood there for a moment refusing to let go of each other. Eventually, Ruby released her, and looked into Weiss's eyes.

"So, what now?" Ruby asked.

"I think now we need to get you two love birds back to the ship," someone called from behind them.

Both Weiss and Ruby turned to face where the voice had come from. "How much did you see, Sun?" Weiss asked.

The marine shrugged. "I saw enough. Anyway, come on Lieutenant Commander Rose. We'll tow your fighter into orbit with us. As for you, Weiss, sorry, but you're going to need to fly yourself back."

Weiss rolled her eyes and climbed back into her fighter with a light smile. "Ice Queen to all units, mission accomplished. Return to base."

* * *

**A/N: Story note:**

**SWACS: Spaceborne Warning And Control system. Basically operates for a fighter wing the way a flagship operates for a fleet of warships by providing various command and control capabilities.**

**Anyways. Yep. Ruby and Weiss kissed. Nearly sacrificing your life to save someone can do that occasionally. As well as a lot of off screen flirting. Didn't write that because, let's be frank here: This story wouldn't really add much if it didn't try to focus on the action.**

**Also, can anyone guess all of the Ace Combat references in this chapter? I'll be impressed if anyone does. More so if they do it without Googling.**

**Up next: Wounded Rose Part 2! Did Ruby survive the crash? Or will the lone white rose wither and die? Stay tuned!**


	6. Ch 6: Forever Fall

Weiss stared intently at her opponent, who let loose with a single punch. Weiss ducked under it and returned with a strike to her opponents stomach.

"Not bad," Yang commented as she blocked another strike from Weiss. "You're certainly improving."

"Still not quite where I need to be though," Weiss replied, panting lightly. "I really don't like my chances if I get shot down without my sidearm."

"So, what's goin' on between you and my sister?" Yang asked as she threw a punch.

Weiss blocked before bending over and holding her knees. "Could we break for a minute?" Yang nodded and followed Weiss off of the mat. "What do you mean 'what's going on?'"

"Well, Sun mentioned that he saw you two kiss when he went to pick her up from the surface and-"

"I'm going to kill him," Weiss muttered.

Yang rolled her eyes. "Well, anyway, i was just wondering what you two were planning."

Weiss shrugged as she took a drink from her water bottle. "I haven't really had a chance to talk to Ruby about it yet."

"Yeah, you have," Yang replied, shaking her head. "You just haven't done it yet."

"Oh? Like when?

"Hmm...I dunno..._Now_ perhaps?"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Fine. Where is she?"

"Med bay," Yang replied. "She's checking in with the doc one last time to see if she's fit for duty again."

Weiss stood up and left the room.

* * *

"And that's it," Doctor Peach said. "You should be ready to return to duty tomorrow."

"Thanks," Ruby replied with a smile. "I've _really_ hated having to direct the fighters from the bridge for the past week."

"Just try to be more careful, Ruby," he replied with a smile. "I get the feeling you've got a lot more on this ship to live for right now."

Ruby scratched the back of her head nervously. "Heh. Yeah, you could say that."

"I heard about what happened between you and Weiss on Vega six. Just...Try to be careful. Military relationships can be difficult to pull off."

"Thanks for the heads up," Ruby replied.

"And speaking of the Ice Queen, here she is," Peach said. "I'll give you a few minutes alone."

Weiss stepped through the door to the medical bay as Peach exited to his small office. Weiss looked around for a moment before spotting Ruby sitting on a bed. With a sigh, she walked over.

"Hey Ruby," Weiss said.

"What's up Weiss?" she asked.

The white-haired pilot let out another sigh as she pulled a chair over to Ruby's bed. "I...I wanted to talk to you about what happened on Vega six. Just before Sun arrived to get you back to the ship."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Ruby said as she looked down at her lap. "I was just-"

"Hey, I wasn't finished yet, dolt!" Weiss interrupted.

"Sorry, Weiss," Ruby replied with a blush.

"Anyways, as I was saying, I wanted to talk to you about what happened on Vega six," Weiss paused for a moment. "And I've just decided that words wouldn't quite get my point across well enough."

Without warning, Ruby found herself being kissed by Weiss. Ruby sat there for a moment, shocked by the other pilot's action, but, not even a second later, she closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss, moaning gently as she did so. When they finally broke apart, both pilots had a light blush.

"So...Are we dating now?" Ruby asked.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "What do you think, dolt?"

"Well, what about the fact that I'm your direct superior? I mean, I know the regs don't forbid it, but-"

Weiss rolled her eyes and cut Ruby off with another kiss.

"Well," Ruby said when they finally boke apart again. "That settles it, I guess."

Weiss opened her mouth to speak, but was swiftly cut off by the intercom.

"Attention all senior staff, report to the officer's briefing room immediately, repeat, report to the officer's briefing room immediately."

Ruby sighed. "Well, duty calls. "

* * *

Ruby stood in front of the assembled pilots in the pilot's briefing room.

"Well folks, I'll bet you're wondering why I gathered you here," Ruby started.

"We've got a mission," one of the pilot's called.

Ruby sighed. "Yes, we have a mission." Ruby turned to the screen behind her and tapped a few commands, pulling up an image of several ships, including the ship that the Beacon had fought just prior to Ruby getting shot down. "As you all are aware, the pirate fleet that we engaged about two weeks ago in orbit of Vega six was never beaten. Well, they were spotted near the Forever Fall nebula by a passing patrol frigate. This puts them in a position to attack almost anywhere on the Federation's border and then retreat before we can respond."

"Now, the R.F.S. Beacon, as well as four other ships, including the R.F.S. Haven, will be joining us for the operation," Ruby continued, as she tapped in several more commands, showing the ships that would be participating. "Admiral Qrow would have gotten more ships, but we're starting to get very short-staffed with the ships that keep disappearing. The plan will be to have the task force jump in, and hold position at artillery range. The force will launch fighters, and we will move in to tie up the enemy fighters and their torpedo bombers. Once we have their fighters tied up, one squadron from each ship will break off and move to escort a wave of our own torpedo bombers, which will make a hit-and-run on the enemy warships."

"With any luck," Ruby concluded, "that should be enough to bring down the enemy capital ships. Admiral Qrow will be on board the Haven in command of the battle, while the Haven's CAG, Lieutenant Commander Summer Rose, will be directing all deployed fighters. Any questions?"

"Yes," Blake asked. "What happens if the bomber wave fails to cripple or destroy the enemy ships?"

"Well, I'm guessing Admiral Qrow will decide what our next course of action will be. Other than that, I wasn't told anything. Anyone else?"

"Yeah, are you going to get your ass shot down again?" someone called from the back of the room.

Ruby sighed. "Who said that?"

"Ensign Winchester, ma'am," Weiss called.

"I'll let that slide this time," Ruby said. "Next time, you won't be so lucky."

"What're you gonna do? Blow up in front of me?"

"Yang?" Ruby called.

"Gladly," the blonde said as she stood from her seat.

She walked to the back of the room, grabbed Cardin by the collar, hoisted him into the air, and punched him squarely in the jaw. As he fell back into his chair, Yang turned around and walked back to her seat.

"What the hell?" he asked "Are you trying to get a court-martial?"

Ruby shrugged. "Anyone in here who wants to report this, raise your hand." Nobody did. "Thought that might be the case. The operation begins tomorrow at oh-nine-hundred. I want you all in your fighters and ready to fly five minutes before then. Good luck to you all. Dismissed."

Ruby watched as the other pilots walked out of the room. When the last person finally left, Ruby sat in a chair and slouched down, holding her head in her hands.

"Everything all right, Ruby?" someone asked.

Ruby looked up and spotted Weiss standing at the entrance to the room. "Weiss, sorry, didn't hear you there." she replied with a sigh. "Yeah, I guess everything's okay. I guess I'm just kinda tired of having to deal with people like Cardin."

"Well," Weiss said as she walked over next to Ruby, "I'd say you handled him just fine. Most just choose to ignore him."

"Thanks, Weiss" Ruby replied.

"Come on, we've got a long day tomorrow. We should probably get some sleep," Weiss replied, as she reached a hand out to Ruby.

Ruby took Weiss's hand and stood. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

* * *

"Bridge, this is the CAG," Ruby called into her helmet, "All fighters are in their tubes and ready to launch."

"Roger that, Reaper," Commander Goodwitch called. "Captain Ozpin will inform the Admiral that we are ready to proceed."

Ruby tested her fighter's flightstick, making sure all of her input was being received. Much to her relief, all of the damage had been repaired since she was shot down.

"Attention all hands, this is the Captain," Captain Ozpin called. "Standby for phase jump in one minute. Combat operations will begin as soon as jump completes. Red alert, all hands to battlestations, this is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill."

Ruby winced as she once more felt the familiar pulling sensation that accompanied a phase jump. Just as it stopped, her helmet crackled with another voice.

"Attention on the flight deck, this is the X.O." Commander Goodwitch called. "Scramble all fighters, repeat, scramble all fighters!"

Ruby was once again thrown back in her seat as the dim interior of the launch tube was replaced by a shimmering, red nebula surrounded by the inky blackness of space.

"All Beacon wing units, this is Reaper," Ruby called. "Form up with the other fighter wings and prepare to engage."

"Reaper, this is Wolf," Ruby's mother called. "Have your fighter wing take the left side of the formation. Watch the flank, and get them into a dogfight."

"Copy, Mo-" Ruby stopped herself, "Wolf. Taking the left flank. Red squadron, White squadron, Black squadron center of our wing. Yellow squadron, Spartan squadron,you two get the left side. Valhalla, Samurai, you two have the right side. Shield squadron, you've got rear guard."

Ruby's helmet echoed with responses. She gritted her teeth and watched as the pirates disgorged their fighter wings, which started to rapidly close on the Navy's fighter group.

"All fighters, attack!" Summer called.

Ruby punched her throttle as far forward as it would go, and her fighter sailed toward the pirates. She squeezed her trigger, and a barrage of fire shot away from her fighter, slamming into a pirate that was approaching Ruby head on. She clenched her teeth as fire continued to pour out, until finally, the pirate fighter fell apart, and debris sailed past Ruby's canopy. She flipped her fighter around, and sped off to find another target, making sure to stay within her fighter wing's area of the battle. Another fighter flew in front of Ruby, and she pulled back on her stick to follow it, firing another burst from her guns as she did so. Several of the rounds stitched up the wings of the fighter, but failed to destroy it. The pirate banked left, and a third burst from Ruby carved through one of the fighters engines, causing the ship to start to veer wildly until it eventually slammed into another pirate, destroying both craft.

"Reaper, this is Wolf, come in," Summer's said.

"Reaper, go ahead," Ruby replied as she started to tail another fighter.

"I've sent the signal to the fleet to deploy the torpedo bomber wings. I want you to lead the escort group."

"On it," Ruby replied as she changed channels to her fighter wing's frequency. "Red squadron, this is Reaper. Break off the fight and form up with the bomber wings. Knight, have a couple of your flights take over the gap we're leaving."

Ruby flipped her fighter on its axis and sped back to the formation of warships, which were trading long-range fire with the pirate fleet.

Ruby took her place at the front of the formation. "All bombers and fighters in the escort group, this is Reaper," she called. "I'm sending you a flight plan. Be advised that it will take us through the capital ship artillery fire. Don't deviate from the course unless you want to end up as a pile of slag."

Ruby guided her fighter onto the trail that had been projected on her HUD, and matched speed with the bombers. All around her canopy, long range artillery cannon blasts sailed past. She gritted her teeth and continued to fly, weaving whenever the path shifted until she eventually managed to get to nearly five kilometers away from the pirate fleet.

_Close enough,_ Ruby thought to herself. "All bombers, launch torps now!"

Ruby turned her head around to look at the bombers, and she proceeded to follow the barrage of ordinance that was rapidly surging towards the pirate fleet. As soon as they closed into range of the pirate's defensive turrets, many of the projectiles were shot down. The few that did make it through the wall of flak exploded against the hulls of the pirate warships, but did only a little damage.

"Dammit," Ruby muttered to herself. Her thoughts began to race at lightning speed as she tried to come up with an idea. Suddenly, she was struck by an epiphany. "Computer, give me a detailed readout on the pirate battle-carrier's fuel lines."

An image of the pirate ship shimmered to life in Ruby's HUD. _Bingo_, she thought to herself. She pushed her throttle as far forward as it would go and sped into the wall of flak fire.

"Reaper, what the hell are you doing?" Ruby's mother called.

"I've got an idea, just hang on!" Ruby replied as her fighter shook from the flak exploding all around her. She flew her fighter directly at the battle-carrier's still-open open landing bay.

As she pulled into the landing bay, she turned her fighter's nose upwards at the door, which had slowly started to close, and cut loose with a short barrage of fire, quickly shredding the door's motor, stopping it dead in its tracks. She then turned her attention to near where a long hose lay across the floor. With a small smile, Ruby fired off a short burst from her guns and quickly flipped her fighter around to get out of the ship's landing bay before it exploded. Once she was out and well away from the flak fire, RUby turned her fighter, and watched as a series of massive explosions silently ripped through the battle-carrier until a single blast erupted from the center of the ship, sending massive pieces of debris. Several of the massive chuncks of ship slammed into the other, smaller ships of the pirate fleet, causing massive damage to two and outright destroying one ship, leaving only a single small frigate intact. The smaller ship quickly jumped away, leaving the two remaining pirate ships to be torn apart by the guns of the navy's warships. Ruby's helmet echoed with a chorus of cheers from her fellow pilots, causing her to smile slightly.

"Ruby Rose," her mother called. "That was this single most irresponsible, impractical, showy, impressive, courageous, and clever maneuvers I've ever seen. excellent work."

"Thanks, mom," Ruby replied, smiling broadly.

"Lieutenant Commander Rose, this is Admiral Qrow," Ruby's uncle called. "When you are back aboard the Beacon, please meet with me in the admiral's suite. I need to speak with you."

Ruby was silent for a moment. "Yes, sir," she finally replied as she turned her fighter and headed back to the ship. Something told her that her life was about to get very interesting.

* * *

**A/N: Welp. Today has been pretty much the most miserable day I've had in a long time. No details, but suffice to say that it would be pretty hard for it to get worse at this point. *sigh* But enough about my problems. This story has over 100 follows! Thanks guys! And a shout out to **iLike2Sleep** for being the 100th follower! I do really appreciate all of the support you guys have given both this and Lone White Rose!**

**Anyways, I have two different directions to take this story right now. On one hand, I can keep Ruby as a pilot, and write this from that perspective, or I could have her promoted to Captain and give her command of a warship. As I have both paths already planned out, I feel that it would be best to let you guys decide! So, I'm putting a poll up on my profile, and you can vote for which one you'd prefer to see me write! And, don't worry, as I've already said, I can make this work for either choice, so neither one will lose any detail or plot elements. The poll will close when I post the next chapter of A Lone White Rose.**

**Speaking of, watch for Chapter 16 of A Lone White Rose to drop here in a little while! See you all then!**


	7. Ch 7: A New Path

**A/N: Just so you guys know, in case you haven't seen yet, the option that won the poll was to have Ruby promoted and give her a ship to command. If you'd like to see the final tally, the results are still up on my profile. For those of you who still want some fighter action though, don't worry, as there will still be some more to come before Ruby's promotion. I also should be able to find a way to work it in after her promotion, though it will be another person flying.**

**With that said, enjoy Chapter 7: A New Path!**

* * *

Ruby stood outside the admiral's suite and let out a long sigh. _Well, this is it_, she thought as she tapped to door control to inform Admiral Qrow she was outside.

"Come in," he called.

Ruby walked into the room and saluted. "Sir, Lieutenant Commander Ruby Rose reporting as ordered."

"Drop the formalities, Ruby," Qrow replied, giving Ruby a light smile. "It's good to see you."

"Gladly," Ruby replied as she walked over and hugged her uncle.

"So, that was quite a stunt you pulled out there during the battle," Qrow said as they broke apart.

'Well, with all due respect, I knew I was going to make it," Ruby replied , her stance becoming slightly guarded. "I had the entire maneuver calculated and-"

"Relax, Ruby," Qrow interrupted with a small smile. "I've been an Admiral long enough to be able to recognize the difference between a suicidal move and a precise one. Yours was quite obviously the latter."

Ruby relaxed a little. "So, what do you need then?"

"Well, I actually had a question for you," Qrow replied. "As you may be aware, there is a new prototype ship being constructed at the shipyards in the Shadow of Light system."

"The R.F.S. Vale, first in the new Vale class of Dreadnoughts, correct?" Ruby asked, to which Qrow nodded. "And let me guess, you want me to serve as the ship's CAG?"

"Not exactly," Qrow replied, to which Ruby cocked her head slightly. "I want you to be the captain."

"You...You want me to be the captain of a capital ship?" Ruby asked.

Her uncle nodded. "Thus far in your career, you have not only demonstrated exceptional courage and skill, but also an unwavering concern for those under your command as well as a keen sense of the flow of battle. Those are all traits that I believe make for an excellent captain. So, the post is yours, if you want it."

Ruby stood there for a moment. "Are...Are you sure?"

Qrow laughed. "Ruby, you know me. Would I be asking you right now if I wasn't sure?"

Ruby scratched the back of her head nervously. "Yeah I guess you're right."

"So, what's your answer then?"

Ruby stood silently for a moment. _Well, I don't want to leave Weiss here_, she thought. _I wonder..._

"Sir, I'll take the post on one condition," Ruby said.

"Let me guess, " Qrow replied, a knowing smile on his face. "You want Lieutenant Weiss Schnee promoted to Commander and posted as the XO on the Vale."

"Umm...How did you know?"

"As I said, being an Admiral requires that I recognize things," Qrow replied. "First, I believe that you two are involved, correct?"

"That's not the only reason I want her," Ruby muttered.

"I understand. Just commenting. Anyways, the second item was that I was already considering her for the XO posting. You two make an excellent team, and I believe you would do well together commanding a ship."

"You're the best, Uncle Qrow," Ruby replied as she hugged him tightly.

"Easy there, Ruby," he replied with a laugh. "I still need to get Weiss in here so I can tell her about her new assignment before you kill me."

"Heh, sorry," Ruby said as she broke off. "Guess I'll head to my quarters then."

"Not so fast. I'd like you here for this," Admiral Qrow said as he walked over to the intercom. "Attention, Lieutenant Weiss Schnee, report to the Admiral's suite immediately."

After several minutes of waiting, the white-haired pilot walked through the doors and saluted. "Sir, Lieutenant Schnee, reporting as ordered." she said.

"At ease, Lieutenant Schnee," Qrow replied, and Weiss relaxed her stance slightly. "Lieutenant, I've received a request from the soon-to-be captain of the R.F.S. Vale that you serve as the ship's XO. The post is yours, if you want it."

Weiss stood there for a moment. ".You want me to be the XO of a warship?" she asked.

Qrow replied with a nod. "As I said, it was by special request of the captain."

"Before I answer, I'd like to know who the captain is."

"That would be me, actually," Ruby said from behind Weiss, causing her to jump a little.

"Ruby, are you _trying_ to kill me?" Weiss practically shouted.

"Well, taking into consideration that I saved you from getting blown up a few weeks ago, I'd say no I'm not," Ruby replied with a grin.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "So, you're the captain?"

"Yep!" Ruby replied. "Well, actually, I'm not the captain _yet_ but I will be."

"Speaking of that," Qrow said, "I'm going to wait to promote you until it comes time to commission the ship, so as to avoid a conflict of authority here on the Beacon."

"That sounds like a good plan," Ruby said, looking to Weiss , who nodded in response.

"Very well, you two are dismissed."

* * *

"Still can't believe I'm going to be a captain," Ruby said as she sat down across from Weiss at a table in the officer's mess.

"It's been a week already, Ruby. And, besides, you deserve it." Weiss replied.

"Thanks. And, don't forget, you totally deserve your promotion as well."

Weiss blushed lightly "Thank you, Ruby."

Both ate in silence for several minutes until the intercom blared.

"Lieutenant Schnee, Lieutenant Commander Rose, report to the senior staff briefing room immediately," Commander Goodwitch called.

Ruby sighed as she stood from her seat. "Guess that's us."

The pair walked silently through the halls, passing the occasional crew member as they walked. Finally, they arrived outside the briefing room. Giving each other a small nod, they approached the door, and it hissed open, revealing Captain Ozpin and Commander Goodwitch standing in front of a holographic display of an asteroid field.

Captain Ozpin turned around to face Ruby and Weiss. "Ah, good. You're here," he said calmly.

"What do you need, sir?" Ruby asked as she walked over to the display.

"I want you two on a long-range recon operation," Captain Ozpin said as he manipulated the display. "You will be here, in this asteroid field looking for a pirate base. You will be there for about two weeks."

"Why? We could just send in a recon frigate, find the base, and jump in with the Beacon to bomb it," Ruby said.

"Well, for one, the asteroid field is far too dense for even a frigate to fly through. Two, we don't want the pirates to be alerted to the fact that we know about this base, so we will be jumping in far from where the base is. As a result, you will need about two days of travel time to get there. Third, we believe the pirates have prisoners there, so when we actually launch our assault, we are going to send in a ground team to capture it."

"Sir, are you sure it's wise to be sending your two highest-ranked pilots for a mission like this?" Weiss asked.

"Normally, I would agree with you, Lieutenant," Ozpin replied. "Though, I believe this would give both of you an opprotunity to get used to working together on the same ship during duty hours. You will be taking the ship's R-71 Blackbird for the mission. Any questions?"

"When do we deploy?" Weiss asked.

"Tomorrow, so make sure to get a good night's sleep," Commander Goodwitch replied.

"Is there anything else?" Captain Ozpin asked. Both Weiss and Ruby shook their heads. "Very well then, you two are dismissed. Good luck."

* * *

"You ready for this Weiss?" Ruby asked as she climbed into the crew compartment of the sleek Blackbird and sat in the seat beside the one Weiss was already sitting in.

Weiss shrugged. "Not the first long-range recon mission I've done before."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "So, two weeks?"

"Yes," Weiss replied, giving a small nod as she did so.

"When do we start running low-emissions?"

"When we're about four hours out of our target area. When we arrive on site, we'll land on an asteroid, power down everything but basic life-support and sensors and start passively scanning for the pirate's base."

"Sounds like a plan," Ruby replied with a nod.

"Attention all hands, this is the captain," Ozpin called over the intercom. "Stand by for phase jump."

Ruby briefly felt the familiar sickness she always got whenever the ship jumped, wincing as she waited for it to stop. When it finally did, pulled her helmet over her head and gripped the Blackbird's flightstick.

"Bridge, this is Reaper," she called. " The Blackbird is ready for launch.

"Roger that, Reaper," Ozpin replied. "Good luck. See you in two weeks."

* * *

"I've been waiting for a week now. What took you so long, Ironwood?" the woman said.

"I apologize, ma'am," Commodore Ironwood replied. "I have been unable to report due to...beaurocratic issues that accompany the promotion I received a week ago."

"Hmmm...Indeed." Cinder muttered. "Any other excuses?"

"No, ma'am."

"Good. Now, would you mind explaining to me what happened at Forever Fall?"

Ironwood sighed. "I had no idea Lieutenant Commander Rose would attempt a stunt like that Realistically, she should have been killed by the flak fire."

"That doesn't change the fact that she wasn't," Cinder replied, looking distinctly bored. "As a result of your failure to prevent her from making that attack, we not only lost a battle-carrier, but two cruisers and a destroyer as well."

"With all due respect, I doubt I could have ordered any of my pilots to even attempt to stop her, as my CAG is her mother, and, even if she _is_ on our side, which I doubt, Summer is very protective of Ruby. There is no way she would ever agree to fire on her own daughter."

Cinder rolled her eyes. "I don't suppose you have any good news to report to me?"

"I believe that I have gotten four more captains to commit their ships to us," Ironwood replied. "This puts us at about sixty percent of all Remnant Federation naval forces that will fight for us when the time comes. Furthermore, the Terran Imperium has pulled additional forces away from the Federation's border. Our chance to strike is coming soon."

"Good," Cinder said, still sounding bored. "Do not fail me again, Ironwood."

The screen went dark, and Ironwood sighed heavily. "Commander Black, please inform Lieutenant Commander Rose that I wish to speak with her."

"Yes, sir," Mercury replied.

After several minutes of waiting, Summer walked in. "You asked to see me, sir?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, I have a question for you," Ironwood replied. "Do you believe the Terran Imperium is still a threat?"

Summer stood there for a moment and thought. "No, I do not," she finally replied. "Not only have they continued to abide by the terms of our treaty with them, even better than us in some cases, but they have also been continually pulling ships away from our border."

"Well, we'll have to disagree on that."

"Yes, sir. Was there anything else?"

Ironwood sighed. "No, you're dismissed."

Summer saluted and left the room, leaving Ironwood to sit back in his chair. _She might be a problem._

* * *

**A/N: And here's chapter 7, now with more plot development! As always, thanks to all those who followed, favorited, and reviewed! You guys are totally awesome!**

**By the way, the Blackbird was named for the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the world record holder for the fastest plane ever flown, with a speed of mach 3.3 (3.3 times the speed of sound), as well as a sustained altitude record at 85,069 feet (25,929 meters). It flew so fast, that it had to be built almost entirely our of titanium due to the air resistance heating the plane to immense temperatures. Yeah.**

**Anyways, see you all when I post Chapter 17 of A Lone White Rose: Say You'll Stay! Until then!**


	8. Ch 8: The Long Night

Ruby yawned and stretched her aching neck as she sat up in the bunk of the recon fighter.

"Ah, good, you're up," Weiss replied as she turned around in the pilot's chair.

"Yeah, just barely," Ruby replied, rubbing her neck as she stood. "Seriously, I've slept on more comfortable floors than this thing."

"Whatever," Weiss replied as she rolled her eyes and turned back to face the window.

"How much longer until we go dark?" Ruby asked as she sat down next to Weiss.

"About five more minutes," Weiss said.

Ruby let out a long sigh. "You go ahead and get yourself something to eat. I'll keep an eye on the controls."

Weiss stood from her chair and walked to the back of the craft. As Ruby rested in the chair, she allowed herself to slouch down a little and stare out into the inky void that surrounded the ship.

_Sure is beautiful out there_, Ruby thought to herself. _I wonder how far away from the R.F.S. Haven we are._

Suddenly, a beep from the console snapped Ruby out of her reverie, causing her to look down. With a sigh, she tapped a few controls and the ship's gentle hum died out.

"All right," Ruby said, "We're running low emissions. Only way we'll be detected now is if you start singing the Mistral national anthem."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Ruby? That reference is literally centuries old."

Ruby laughed as she stood up and followed Weiss to the back of the ship. "Doesn't mean it's any less relevant."

Weiss turned around from her meal. "You are such a dolt."

"First of all, don't forget, I'm your dolt, and second, you're such a dolt what?"

Weiss pushed Ruby gently. "You are such a dolt _ma'am_," she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm in spite of the playful smile on her face.

"Copy that, Lieutenant," Ruby replied with a loud laugh as she turned and walked back to the front.

* * *

"Woah, watch out!" Ruby yelled.

"Watch out for what?" Weiss asked before her eyes went wide and she pulled back on the flight stick as hard as she could

"Maybe I should take over," Ruby said, turning to face Weiss. "You haven't slept in almost two days now, and you barely dodged that asteroid there."

Weiss let out a long sigh. "Yeah, maybe you're right."

Weiss stood from her seat and Ruby shifted so that she was sitting where Weiss was. The white-haired pilot walked to the bunk in the back of the ship and laid down. She smiled as she looked out of the window in the craft's ceiling into the void that surrounded them and closed her eyes.

"Hey Ruby?" she asked, keeping her eyes closed still.

"What's up?" Ruby replied.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you join the navy?"

She heard Ruby let out a gentle sigh. "Well, I guess a couple reasons. First one is kinda obvious: I was raised a navy brat, so it'd be kinda hard for me to be able to do anything else."

Weiss chuckled a little. "I get that. My own mother was actually a pilot before she retired to raise me and Winter. Was there anything else?"

Ruby let out longer sigh. "I guess...You could say that it's sort of to protect Yang."

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked as she sat up in the bunk.

"Well, as I told you a while ago, when Yang found out what happened to her parents, she was really broken up about it. Well, I'm not entirely sure she's fully recovered from the shock yet. She's always been there to kinda protect me, but I've always been there to provide a place for her to let out her emotions. She's tried put up this flirty, tough-girl front, but that's all it is. The only reason she does it is so she can bury her feelings."

"I'm sorry," Weiss replied. "I shouldn't have said anything."

"Don't worry about it," Ruby replied, turning to give Weiss a brief smile. "It feels kinda nice to actually talk about it for once. Anyways, what about you? Why'd you sign up?"

"Well, you know how I deferred ownership of Schnee Aerospace to my sister, right?" Weiss asked as she lay back down and closed her eyes.

"Yeah?"

"Well, it wasn't as simple as just telling my father I didn't want the company," Weiss said. "He continued to pressure me, even after I told him directly that I did not want it. So, the day I was old enough, I enlisted as a career naval officer." Weiss chuckled briefly before continuing. "Needless to say, my dad was furious when he found out."

"So, you're career, huh?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, you?"

"Um, duh? Could you picture me anywhere else?"

Weiss sighed. "No, I suppose not."

The pair fell into a comfortable silence. After what felt like a few minutes laying in the blackbird's bunk, Weiss sat up and looked over to the pilot's chair, where she saw Ruby slouched down with her eyes closed.

"Ruby, what the hell are you doing!" Weiss yelled as she shot up from the bunk, causing the red-and-black haired pilot to nearly jump out of her seat.

"Weiss, we landed over three hours ago," Ruby replied, as she rubbed her eyes and slouched back again.

Weiss stood there, looking confused. "We landed?"

"Yeah, I found a suitable asteroid and landed us to observe the pirates," Ruby said as she walked over to where Weiss sat. "I also already powered down everything aside from basic life support, climate control, sensors, and internal lighting."

Weiss rubbed her eyes and lay back down. "How long was I out?"

"About six hours," Ruby replied as she reached into the small storage unit that kept there food. "You want anything?"

"What do we have?"

There was a light rustling as Ruby started to go through their food supplies.

"Let's see here," she muttered. "Bunch of dehydrated veggies, bunch of dehydrated meat, a couple pre-prepared meals, and a special treat! A pack of dehydrated soup."

Weiss let out a sigh as she stood from the bunk and grabbed one of the meals from the supply. It was going to be a long couple of weeks.

* * *

Ruby sat up in the bunk and looked over to the pilot's seat where Weiss sat slouched down slightly with her eyes closed. She let out a small smile as she looked at the former-heiress and future-XO.

"She looks so peaceful when she's sleeping," Ruby muttered to herself.

"I'm not sleeping, dunce," Weiss replied without opening her eyes.

"Heh, sorry Weiss," Ruby said, scratching the back of her head as she stood from the bed.

Weiss let out a long sigh and sat up in her chair. "How long have we been out here now?"

Ruby glanced at the mission clock on the sensor's station near the back of the craft's relatively small cabin as she paced to the front. "We've been here about six days now. Why?"

Weiss shook her head and stared at the control panel. "Six days and we've seen nothing except small patrols of a handful of pirate fighters each."

Ruby leaned against the back of the pilot's chair. "You know, it's just the two of us out here," she whispered. "We could... y'know..."

"Absolutely not!" Weiss practically shouted.

"Why?"

"Well, for one, _WE. ARE. ON. DUTY_!" Weiss said angrily. "Second, we haven't actually been on a real date yet!"

"Well, what about breakfast at Ren's parent's restaurant? That was kind of a date."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Fine, _one_ date. That doesn't change the fact that we're on duty _right now_!"

"Well it's not like we'd be missing-" one of the consoles beeped suddenly. "Hang on a moment, sensors just got a big hit."

"See? I told you," Weiss said, rolling her eyes again.

Ruby walked over to the sensor's station and tapped a few commands. "That's... that's impossible," Ruby muttered "Hey Weiss? You really need to get over here and see this."

Weiss walked over and looked at the display. "Looks like a destroyer. They must have cleared a safe zone in the asteroids for capital ships to dock at."

"Yeah but look at the ship itself," Ruby said, pointing. "That's the R.F.S. Glory!"

Weiss cocked her head. "What's the Glory doing docking at a pirate base?"

"What _I'm_ more concerned about is the fact that the Glory disappeared nearly two weeks ago," Ruby replied.

"It did?"

"Yeah, just like all of the other ships that have disappeared, there was no blackbox, debris, or anything. The ship just dropped off the grid without a trace."

"So what's it doing here?"

"Good question," Ruby replied. "I'm running a download of the ship's flight recorder from around the time that the ship disappeared and piggybacking it on the pirate base's comms frequency so we don't get detected."

"How long until it's done?"

"Now," Ruby said.

The screen shifted, showing the bridge of the destroyer with all of the officers sitting at their stations.

"Ah, Commander Sustrai, what can I do for you?" the ship's captain asked, as the latter woman strode into view.

"Captain Tukson, I am hereby relieving you of your command," Emerald said coolly as she drew her pistol and pointed it at her captain's head.

"On what grounds?" The captain asked, as he started to lower his hand for his own weapon.

"On the authority of Commodore-"

_Error: Data Corrupt_ the computer interrupted as the screen cut to static. _Continuing at next available point_.

"All hands, this is Commander Sustrai," Emerald stated smugly as she stared at the body of the captain laying just off-screen, "I am hereby taking command of the vessel, as the Captain has been... relieved of his duties."

"What are your orders, Captain?" one of the bridge crew asked.

"Deactivate our tracking systems, reset our IFF, and commence jump to the staging area. We'll get the rest of our orders from Commodore-"

_Transmission end_. The computer called.

Ruby and Weiss stared at the computer screen wide-eyed.

"We... We need to tell Ozpin," Ruby said finally. "I'll see if I can raise him on the comm."

"No, Ruby," Weiss replied as she stopped Ruby's hand before she could open the channel. "If you send out a long range transmission right now, it'll be like shooting off a flare."

"But we need to tell someone!"

Weiss sighed. "I understand that, Ruby, and we will. But right now, we need to finish our mission."

"Fine," Ruby grumbled. "Soon as we get back though, we're taking this straight to Ozpin."

"I concur," Weiss replied with a nod as she walked back to the pilot's seat and sat down again.

* * *

Ruby practically jumped out of the pilot's seat when the console in front of her chimed. Rubbing her eyes, she looked down at the display.

"Ummm... Weiss?" Ruby called, worry coloring her voice. "We've got a problem!"

Weiss sat up in the bunk with a sigh. "What is it now?"

"I'm pretty sure our position's been compromised."

Weiss shot over to the chair next to Ruby's. "Are you sure?"

"Well, considering the fact that we've got a small flight of pirate fighters approaching us now..."

"Shit," Weiss muttered. "And there's no way we'll be able to power back up in time to get away from them."

Ruby paused for a moment. "I'm not so sure about that," she muttered as she practically leapt up from her chair and ran back to the power control station in the back of the craft. "Weiss, when I tell you, push the throttle as far forward as it'll go."

"What are you doing!" Weiss shouted.

"Just trust me!"

Weiss rolled her eyes and gripped the throttle. Off in the distance, she could see the slowly-glowing flares of the pirate fighter's engines as the ships continued to approach them. "Ruby?" she called nervously.

"Just one more second...Got it! Hit the throttle now!"

Weiss did as she was told. Suddenly, the craft surged forward, forcing Weiss back in her chair. With a grimace, she pulled back on the stick, and flipped the Blackbird so it was facing the pother way, and they sped off, even as a handful of energy blasts sped past the cockpit canopy.

"So, what exactly did you do?" Weiss asked as Ruby sat back down beside her.

"Well," Ruby replied, "I knew that powering up the reactor that fast would cause an overload, so I just diverted the power through the engines to give us a short boost to get away."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "You do realize that could have _killed_ us by causing the engines to explode, right?"

"Well I also flushed them with coolant, so they didn't overheat," Ruby replied. "Trust me Weiss, I did actually think this through."

Weiss let out a sigh. "I'm contacting Ozpin," she said as she tapped a few controls. "Captain, this is Ice Queen. Our position was compromised and we had to abort. We are on our way back now."

"Roger that, Ice queen. Do you need any assistance?"

"Negative, we've managed to evade the pirate forces. Though we do have something significant to report."

"Oh?"

"Sir," Ruby said, "The R.F.S. Glory was there."

"What?" Ozpin said, his disembodied voice clearly showing confusion.

"We managed to download some of what happened just prior to the Glory disappearing," Weiss continued. "We're uploading the data to you now."

The craft was silent aside from the gentle hum of the engines as Ozpin listened to the recording on the other side of the channel.

"I see," Ozpin said finally. "I'll send this directly to Admiral Qrow."

"Do you have any idea which Commodore she was referring to?" Ruby asked.

"No, unfortunately," Ozpin replied. "I'll speak wiuth you more when you return. Beacon Control, out."

Weiss and Ruby sat in silence for several minutes. "Is there any reason you want to know who Commander Sustrai was referring to?" Weiss asked finally.

Ruby let out a long sigh. "My mom is still on the Haven, under _Commodore_ Ironwood."

"I...I see," Weiss replied. "I'm sure she'll be all right."

* * *

Ruby stepped out of the Blackbird and into the open hangar deck of the Beacon, where she was immediately grated by a bear hug from Yang.

"Ruby!" Yang yelled, her voice echoing through the silent hangar.

"Gah!... Umm... Yang?" Ruby struggled out, "I... uhh... I'm... pretty... sure... _killing_... your... CAG... is... illegal."

"Heh, sorry Rubes," Yang muttered as she broke the hug and stepped back.

"It's alright," Ruby replied. "Honestly, though, I'll be glad to finally get hot meal."

"Well, Ren's out on patrol right now, so not sure what you're going to get."

"Well, after about one-and-a-half weeks of dry, tasteless, what-ever-it-was we had to eat during the mission, I'll be _glad_ to get some real food, regardless of who's cooking," Weiss replied.

"What about if it's Yang who's cooking?" Blake, called from across the hangar, as she glanced from working on her fighter briefly to look at Weiss.

Weiss paled. "On second thought..."

"Hey, my cooking's just fine, kitty!" Yang yelled.

"First off all, I told you not to call me that," Blake yelled back, not looking up from her fighter. "Second, the last time you tried to cook anything on this ship, you set the kitchen on _fire_. Anyway, don't worry, Yang's not cooking. Today was actually Sun's turn."

Weiss let out a relieved sigh. "Thanks Blake."

"Good to be home, huh Weiss?" Ruby asked, nudging the white-haired pilot as the two left the hangar deck.

Weiss smiled. "Yes, it certainly is."

* * *

**A/N: Still alive folks! Sorry about the delay, I've just been playing the heck out of Dragon Age: Inquisition since it came out. Suffice to say, it's been awesome. As always, thanks for all of the support you guys have given both this and Lone White Rose! Honestly, if I had known how much support these things would get, I would have started writing for you all a lot sooner. Seriously, you guys are definitely one of the better communities I've seen out there.**

**With that said, stay safe, and have a happy holiday! Chapter 18 of Lone White Rose is up next!**


	9. Ch 9: Shattered Skies

Ruby woke up slowly as the alarm in her quarters rang.

_Well,_ she thought. _I guess now's the time_.

She walked across the relatively small room over to the intercom and tapped a button.

"Attention all combat pilots, this is Lieutenant Commander Rose," she called, hearing her voice doubled just on the other side of her door, "report to the pilot's briefing room immediately. Repeat, all combat pilots to the pilot's briefing room immediately."

Ruby let out a sigh, and walked out of her room. She slowly walked through the halls, and nearly bumped into Weiss when she finally got to the elevator.

"Watch where you're go-" Weiss started, "Oh, Ruby. Sorry, I didn't know that was you."

Ruby let out a light laugh. "Well at least you've stopped calling me ma'am."

"Don't count on it, _ma'am_," Weiss replied, sounding distinctly bored even as a smile crossed her face.

"So, I'm curious, how much do you know about the op today?" Ruby asked as the stepped into they elevator.

"I know that it's going to be the Beacon and four carrier class vessels deploying fighters to the pirate base we scouted, but nothing other than that, Weiss replied.

"Let me put it this way," Ruby replied as the door opened again, "It's probably going to be the largest furball you'll ever see. Well, unless you ever get involved in a major fleet action."

"Well, stay alive out there, Ruby," Weiss said.

"You too, Snow Angel," Ruby replied with a smile as they entered the briefing room, making Weiss blush.

"Well, it looks like we're the first ones here," Weiss stated.

"Hopefully everyone'll be here in a few minutes," Ruby said as she looked towards the door.

* * *

"All right everyone, settle down," Ruby called. "We do have an op today." She started to manipulate the holographic display in the front of the room. "As many of you are already aware, Lieutenant Schnee and I preformed a reconnaissance mission to a pirate base in the Comona asteroid field last week," she tapped a location within the display. "Today, we're going to be attacking the base. Because of the density of the field, only fighters and other small craft will be able to safely navigate it. The air groups that will be participating belong to the Beacon, and the carriers Aura, Semblance, Dust, and Hunter. Any questions so far?"

Blake raised her hand. "Why are we only sending carriers? We should at least have some escort ships for the fleet."

"There will be a handful of corvettes and light frigates on hand to provide support, but the plan will be to prevent any pirate ships from making it to the fleet," Ruby replied. "Anyone else? Okay, the plan will be as follows: Capital ships will jump in and hold position just outside the asteroids and launch fighters. Fighter wings will enter the field to engage and destroy all enemy fighters. Once all pirates have been neutralized, the fleet will launch marine gunships to board the pirate base and rescue any prisoners that are there. We'll be running patrols while that is happening. Any questions?" No one else raised their hands. "Alright. The Vale and other carriers will remain on site for resupply operations, but they will otherwise be unable to engage. Reports also indicate the White Fang has a squadron of pilots assigned to the base. If you see them, try to avoid taking them on one at a time. Expected numerical advantage is four to nine against, so you all will really need to watch your backs. Remember, we've only got one window of opportunity for this attack. After today, the pirates will likely start executing the prisoners they are holding there. Operations begin in about thirty minutes, so go ahead and get to your fighters. Good luck everyone."

* * *

Ruby looked our of her cockpit at the other fighters that were carefully maneuvering through the asteroid field with her.

_We're almost there_, she thought.

Suddenly, a large number of red dots flashed into appearance on her sensors screen.

"There they are!" one of the other pilots called.

"I see them," Ruby replied. "All pilots, this is Reaper, break now and engage!"

With a brilliant flash of light flaring up from the weapons of both waves of fighters, the battle was joined. Ruby immediately picked out a pirate heavy fighter as her first target. She maneuvered so she was within a few meters of the ship's rear, and let out a barrage of fire from her guns, ripping through the ship's shields, and caving into the hull, causing the fighter to quickly disintegrate.

"Watch it, everyone, they're only carrying anti-fighter missiles," a pilot called.

"That's odd," Blake's voice came though Ruby's helmet. "They know that we're flying carrier-based fighters, so they should be using anti-ship weapons for if they can manage to take a shot at out carriers."

"Don't worry about that now!" Ruby called as she tore through another pirate fighter. "Just focus on staying alive!"

"Tally ho on a White Fang formation!" another pilot called.

Ruby's eyes widened. "All pilots, this is Reaper," she called. "Attempt to keep the new pilots out of the fight with the White Fang!"

Ruby started to tail another fighter and fired a quick burst from her guns. As soon as she saw her projectiles starting to impact the ship, a barrage of fire lit up her cockpit. She quickly flipped her fighter around and fired a short burst at the pirate fighter that had attempted to pursue her, tearing into the ship's cockpit. She picked out another target and began to fly towards its position.

"Jeez, we can't confirm kills in this furball!" Yang said with a touch of annoyance in her voice.

"Don't worry about confirming them, just focus on doing as much damage as you can, Inferno," Ruby replied as she started to follow her newest target.

The fighter lead her on a lengthy chase through the asteroids, pulling deadly acrobatic maneuvers, which Ruby occasionally had difficulty matching. They whirled around asteroids at speeds that no pilot would think of flying given the density of the field, came so close to colliding that they could have seen each others faces had they not been wearing full flight suits, and occasionally taking brief shots at the other pilot, only to have them evade every round fired. Finally, after what felt like hours of cat-and-mouse, Ruby finally managed to fire a short burst, and the projectiles cleaved into the hull of the fighter, ripping into the wings and tearing open the hull in several locations. Ruby sped past the fighter and looked behind her to make sure that she wasn't being pursued.

"One of the White Fang is hit and trailing smoke!" one of the other pilots called over the radio. "Whose kill was that?"

"I think it was Reaper!" Blake called. "Looks like you hit their leader, too, because the rest of the White Fang are starting to retreat."

"All fighters, this is Reaper," Ruby called "Continue with your current engagement and do not pursue the White Fang."

"Why not? We've got them on the run already!" Yang replied.

"Because if we break off to pursue them, then we'll be leaving the carriers vulnerable," Ruby said as she started to pursue another fighter. "Come on, we've almost got the sector clear. Let's keep it up everyone."

The pirate fighter Ruby was pursuing suddenly stopped, and Ruby decoupled her fighter so she could swing around it. As she passed over the top of the craft, she fired a short burst from her guns, and the pirate ship exploded when the rounds punched through the fighter's power plant. Suddenly, there was a white flash as another fighter passed within a few meter's of Ruby's, and she smiled as she looked closely and saw Weiss's fighter decoupled and shredding another pirate that was about to attack Ruby from behind.

"Thanks for the cover Ice Queen!" Ruby called.

"Can't have you getting shot down again," Weiss quipped. "Especially since you're my girlfriend now."

"Sounds like a plan," Ruby laughed as she selected another target and stared to pursue it.

"All craft, this is SWACS Sky Eye," another voice echoed through Ruby's helmet. "Heads up, we've got enemy torpedo bombers on sensors. We can't let them engage the carriers. All available craft, intercept them."

"Negative," Yang called. "Got nothing on my end."

"Look harder! The bombers are running low emissions. They're difficult to detect on sensors."

"Reaper here," Ruby called as she spotted the shapes of the bombers moving slowly through the asteroids. "I have a visual on the bombers. Moving to engage. Anyone got my back?"

"Ice Queen here," Weiss called, as her fighter fell in behind Ruby's. "I've got your six o'clock."

"Shadow reporting," Blake said, as her pitch black fighter flew up behind and to the left of Ruby's. "Flying on your left."

"Inferno," Yang said, she her brilliant golden fighter surged up to Ruby's right side. "On your right."

"Awesome! Team RWBY is back together!" Ruby yelled.

"What are you talking about, Reaper?" Weiss asked, clearly sounding annoyed.

"Us four! We're kinda like a team! You know, R for Ru-"

"Reaper, please don't say our actual names over an open comm link," Blake interrupted, sounding bored.

"Heh, sorry guys," Ruby replied sheepishly.

The four fighters cut through the silence of space until they were just behind the pirate bombers.

"Do you guys have missile lock?" Ruby asked as lock on four markers appeared on her HUD, indicating that she had successfully locked on to the enemy bombers.

"Ice Queen here, I have lock-on," Weiss replied.

"Shadow, I've got lock as well," Blake called.

"Inferno, my targets are all lit up," Yang said. "Just give the word."

"Hit 'em!" Ruby yelled as she punched a button on her flight stick.

Sixteen missiles streaked away from the fighters, each one seeking a different target. As the missiles approached their targets, there was the distinctive bright flash of the ships launching flares to try and evade them, but to no avail, as they continued to pursue their targets. Finally, there was a series of massive explosions, as the missiles cased a chain reaction in the enemy bomber's torpedoes, resulting in all sixteen being all but completely annihilated.

"Woo!" Ruby yelled. "Sky Eye, this is Reaper. All enemy bombers have been destroyed, repeat, all bombers have been destroyed!"

"Sky Eye here, confirmed. All bombers have been neutralized. All fighters, continue to sanitize the sector for the gunships."

"You heard the man," Ruby called. "All craft, this is Reaper, Let's go ahead and clean up."

The battle lasted another several minutes, during which Ruby's flight computer chimed to inform her that her wing-mounted guns were low on ammo. Finally, the Ruby tailed the last fighter in the enemy group, carefully placed her cross hairs over the craft before letting loose with a short burst from all of her weapons. The fighters shields quickly failed, and the ship itself fell apart soon after.

"Nice job, everyone!" Ruby called. "Sky Eye, this is Reaper, signal the carrier group and tell them that they're clear to send the gunships in."

"Signal sent," Sky Eye replied. "All craft, maintain watch, just in case the pirates have any more surprises waiting for us."

Ruby pulled her fighter to a stop, and diverted additional power to her sensors. _Now we wait,_ she thought to herself as she relaxed as much as she could while strapped to her seat.

* * *

Cinder stared at the massive debris field just outside of the panoramic window on her flagship's bridge.

"Ma'am?" A voice nearby called. "I have news from Comona base."

"I have already heard, Emerald," Cinder replied with a touch of annoyance.

"I take it you also heard that they managed to rescue all of the prisoners?" the mint-haired girl said as she walked up beside Cinder.

She nodded. "Unfortunate, but it doesn't change our plans."

"But what about if one of them knew what we were planning?" Emerald said. "If they do, then the Navy could respond with an attack here in only a few days days."

"They won't be able to without violating the treaty with the Terran Imperium," Cinder stated with a cruel smile. "The terms of peace clearly stated that neither side is to approach the artifact or interfere with the guardians. The Admiralty won't risk another war like that over a handful of 'pirates.'"

Emerald sighed. "Of course, ma'am. Was there anything else you wanted?"

Cinder turned to face Emerald. "Inform Commander Black that it's almost time for him and Ironwood to join us here. Also, prepare the fleet to move on the artifact. With the guardians defeated, we can now study it freely."

"As you wish, ma'am," Emerald replied as she left the room. "Oh, by the way, Mercury wanted to ask what he and Ironwood should do with anyone who... disagrees with our position when they officially come to our side."

"Tell them to do the same thing that everyone else did to their dissidents," Cinder replied. "A traitor deserves a traitor's death, do they not?"

Emerald nodded. "As you wish, ma'am."

Cinder turned back to the window and looked deeper into the debris field. _Soon_ she thought as she stared at a series of three massive, pale-white and blood-red concentric rings in the center. _Soon we'll finally be able to take our revenge on the Terran Imperium_.

* * *

**A/N: Hey folks! So, as of this chapter being posted, the poll for choosing my next story is officially closed. The Merc AU took an early lead in the poll, though the Medieval AU quickly caught up, leaving both the Zombie and Alien Invasion AU's in the dust. Now, my original plan was to start on only the leading story, but both the Medieval AU and Merc AU were close enough that I said "eh, to hell with it," and decided to go ahead and add both to my roster. All four of the stories will eventually be added at some point, but this gives me an idea of what order they should be in. So, to that end, my official rotation will be in this order, starting with the next chapter that I will be writing: Lone White Rose, The Rose Guardian (Medieval AU), The Path We Walk (Merc AU [Faunus Ruby]), and then Flight of a Rose.**

**As always, thank you all for reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing! See you all in Chapter 19 of A Lone White Rose!**


	10. Ch 10: The End of the Beginning

"Are you ready, Ruby?" Weiss asked from behind her.

Ruby turned to look at Weiss, who was standing at the entrance to Ruby's quarters. Both were wearing their full dress uniforms, the black-and-gold seeming to shimmer in the ship's interior lighting.

"Yeah," Ruby replied. "Just a little nervous is all."

"Don't worry, you'll be fine."

"It's just... This is a huge step for me. For both of us," Ruby said as she shuffled her feet a little. "Less than a year in the navy and I'm already a captain, and we're both being promoted _two_ ranks."

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, you deserved to be a captain right out of the academy," Weiss replied as she rubbed Ruby's shoulder reassuringly. "As for me, I'm just glad to be able to go with you."

"Thanks, Weiss," Ruby replied as she gazed into Weiss' ice-blue eyes.

"So, shall we go ahead and get this done?" Weiss asked.

"Kiss for luck?" Ruby asked with a grin.

"Fine," Weiss replied, rolling her eyes even as she smiled and pulled Ruby into a brief, but warm kiss. "Better?"

"Better," Ruby replied as she smiled as well.

Both officers walked out of Ruby's room and started hold hands as they walked down the empty corridors. The ship was eerily silent. Only the main reactor was still running with the ship sitting docked at the Vale shipyards, and even that was only running at the minimum required power to keep the ship able to power quickly in the event of an emergency. Ruby and Weiss eventually arrived at an elevator, and they stepped inside.

"Hangar deck," Ruby called, and the elevator started its descent.

Ruby reached over and gripped Weiss' hand. After several seconds, the elevator slid into a smooth stop, and the doors hissed open. Outside the doors, there were two long lines of the officers and crew of the Beacon. As Ruby and Weiss stepped out of the elevator, everyone snapped to attention. Both Weiss and Ruby walked down to a podium that had been put up at the end of the hangar with Admiral Qrow standing at the top. When they finally reached the podium, both officers stood at attention.

"Lieutenant Commander Rose, Lieutenant Schnee," Admiral Qrow said, "stand at ease."

Ruby and Weiss relaxed their stances and wrapped their hands behind their backs.

"You are both excellent examples of naval officers, and it is my honor to award both of you with rank fitting you capabilities. Lieutenant Commander Rose, please step forward." Ruby did as she was asked, and stood at attention. "Lieutenant Commander Rose, you are an skilled pilot, a brilliant officer, and a fine leader. These are qualities that make for some of the best captains in the Navy. So, with that in mind, I hereby award you with the rank of Captain, and, effective immediately, you are assigned to the captain's post of the R.F.S. Vale."

Ruby saluted as her uncle removed her previous rank insignia from her shoulder and replaced it with her captain's insignia.

"Thank you, sir," Ruby replied with a smile.

"Lieutenant Schnee, step forward," Admiral Qrow said, and Weiss stepped up next to Ruby and stood at attention. "Lieutenant Schnee, you are a skilled pilot, a clever officer, and your support is absolutely invaluable to your superiors officers. Those qualities make for an fine executive officer. As a result, you are hereby awarded the rank of Commander, and, effective immediately, I hereby transfer you to the R.F.S. Vale to serve as the Executive Officer to Captain Rose."

Now it was Weiss' turn to salute, as she was given her new insignia.

"Thank you, sir," Weiss said.

"Captain Rose, Commander Schnee, your ship is standing by in dock four. Report to your posts, and stand by for orders," Admiral Qrow said.

"Yes, sir!" Both officers replied, as they saluted and walked away.

* * *

"Captain on deck!" came a shout from Ruby's left as she and Weiss set foot on the bridge of the R.F.S Vale for the first time.

Ruby looked around and saw every single member of the ship's bridge crew standing attention. The bridge was well lit, with every console arranged in a circular fashion around the large central table that housed the hologram projector for the tactical display. The bridge itself was a shimmering white and well-lit, with broad panoramic windows giving an excellent view of the space around the ship. The ship was massive, over five kilometers in length, with the front three-quarters of the ship being almost like a sword's blade in shape. Near the back were two large, angular protrusions that housed the ship's hangars, and the back was cube-shaped with four large nacelles mounted to the edges. Along the top of the ship were five massive railgun turrets with three on the bottom. Three of the top mounted railguns, and two of the bottom turrets were mounted on the front of the ship, with the remaining two top and one one bottom turrets were mounted in the back. Between the two hangars was a tower that stood about half the ship's width in height, that housed the bridge, where the Ruby and Weiss had just arrived. The two officers looked at each other. With a nod, both officers walked to the tactical display.

"At ease," Ruby called. She tapped a control on the side of the display, and activated the intercom. "Ladies and gentlemen," she called, "Officers and crew, this is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard the R.F.S. Vale. I will keep this brief, because I know you all have duties to get to, with this being a freshly commissioned warship. You are the finest crew in the navy, on board the finest warship in the navy. That is a lot to live up to, but I know for a fact that you will live up to it. This is the day we've waited for. Good luck to you all."

"Nice speech, Ruby," Weiss commented.

"Thanks Weiss," Ruby replied. "So now we're just waiting for orders?"

"From Qrow, yes," Weiss said. "Hopefully he'll be here soon."

"Admiral on deck!" one of the marines at the entrance to the bridge called.

"Speaking of," Weiss said as she and Ruby snapped to attention and looked at the entrance.

"As you were," Admiral Qrow said as he walked over to Ruby and Weiss. "Ladies, are you ready for us to begin the shakedown cruise?"

Ruby nodded. "Yes sir."

"Very well," Admiral Qrow said. "Order a jump to the Vega sector."

"Yes, sir," Ruby said before she turned to the helm station. "Helm, commence jump to Vega three," Ruby then tapped the intercom button once again. "Attention all hands, this is the captain, stand by for jump." There was a brief silence. "Jump!"

Ruby felt herself practically being pulled apart as the phase drive activated. After a brief flash outside of the main window, the shining blue-and-green orb of Remnant was replaced by the dull light-brown of the desert world that was Vega three.

"Ruby, order the ship to orbit the moon," Admiral Qrow said.

"Aye, sir," Ruby said. "Helm, bring us to the moon, cruising speed."

"Aye, ma'am, cruising speed," the helm officer, a young man with a set of gray wolf ears, who looked like he had just completed training at the academy, replied as he tapped several commands into his console.

The ship lurched ever so slightly as the main engines activated. The thrusters flared a brilliant blue as they slowly started to push the massive ship forward.

"Wow, those engines pack quite a punch!" Ruby quipped.

"Well considering they need to push your thick head, I'm not surprised," Weiss replied with a smirk.

"Come on Weiss, really?" Ruby whined.

"If you two are finished, we've arrived in orbit," Qrow interrupted.

"Helm, maintain orbit," Ruby called, and she felt herself getting pulled slightly forward as the ship slowed to a stop. "So, what's first?"

"Bring the ship into a north-south orbit," Admiral Qrow replied.

"Yes, sir. Helm, turn ninety-degrees up and adjust orbit to compensate."

"Ay, ma'am, adjusting orbit."

The ship's nacelles rotated and fired again at the same time the maneuvering thrusters placed around the ship activated, pushing the ship and causing it to move towards the moon's north pole, leaving the moon sitting peacefully outside the left side of the ship.

"Good. Bring the ship into the asteroid field here," Admiral Qrow said as he indicated a spot within the holographic tactical display.

"Helm, turn forty degrees to starboard, thirty degrees down," Ruby called.

The ship's hull groaned slightly as it started to turn once again. When the massive vessel was finally in position, the main engines fired again, pushing the ship to its destination.

"Now," Admiral Qrow said, "there are four decommissioned ships in the asteroid field. A destroyer, a cruiser, a battleship, and a carrier. Your orders are to destroy them."

"Aye, sir," Ruby said.

"What's our ETA?" Weiss asked.

"About two more minutes, ma'am," the helmsman called.

"Good," Weiss replied.

The ship slid silently through space, its blue-and-white hull shimmering from the light of the Vega system's sun.

"That's strange," Ruby commented, looking at the tactical display as they approached the asteroid field. "You said there were four target ships, but I can only see one," Ruby then looked up to Weiss. "Sound yellow alert"

Weiss nodded as she tapped the intercom button. "Attention all hands, this is the X.O, yellow alert all hands to stations, this is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill."

The bridge intercom started to make a low buzz, and crew began to file on and off as they went to their stations. The ship's hull briefly shimmered a faint blue color as the shields activated, and a number of panels on the outside of the hull began to pull back, revealing a number of smaller particle cannons and other weapons.

"All stations report ready for action ma'am," Weiss said,as she looked up at Ruby. "Shields are up, and weapons can be powered at a moments notice."

"Helm, take us into the asteroid field," Ruby called.

"Aye, aye, taking us in."

The ship rumbled forward, the shields briefly shimmering each time they shrugged off an asteroid impact. Suddenly, the ship rocked as it took multiple direct hits from something much more than asteroids.

"Damage report!" Weiss yelled.

"Forward shields are down to ninety-five percent!" the chief of engineering, a young woman with long, black hair tied into a ponytail that wrapped around her shoulder. "No damage other than that."

"What hit us?" Ruby called.

"Looks like a pirate cruiser," Weiss said as she studied the image of the opposing ship on the display.

"Why didn't we detect it earlier?"

"Could have been running low-emissions," the chief engineer called. "Our sensors are primarily designed to detect heat signatures."

"Sound red alert and bring us in to engage," Ruby called as she looked back at Admiral Qrow, who simply gave her a nod.

"Aye, Ruby," Weiss said as she tapped the intercom button again. "All hands, this is the X.O, red alert, all hands to battle-stations, red alert, all hands to battle-stations. This is not a drill. Attention on the flight deck, scramble all fighters."

Outside, dozens of small shapes began to dart away from the ship as the fighters launched. The massive form oft he Vale moved in close to the pirate cruiser, which was nearly a fifth of the size of the mighty dreadnought.

"Do we have a firing solution yet?" Ruby called.

"Yes, ma'am," the young man sitting at the gunnery station called.

"Good. Open fire on the pirate cruiser."

"Particle batteries two through seventeen, this is the XO, open fire. Sending target coordinates now," Weiss called.

Space around the ship lit up as a series of small blue bursts sped away from the ship. The pirate cruiser's shields shimmered a brilliant red as the particle cannon shots slammed into them. The pirate cruiser replied with a handful of particle gun blasts of its own, causing the Vale's shields to flare slightly as they impacted. Slowly, the pirate ship started to turn away from the Vale as it fired its main engines.

"Captain, looks like they're trying to get away!" one of the other bridge officers on the Vale yelled.

"Full ahead, pursuit course!" Ruby called.

The Vale's engines flared as it turned to pursue the pirate cruiser. Suddenly, there was a bright flash, and the pirate cruiser vanished.

"Where did they go?" Weiss shouted.

"Looks like they jumped to the border, ma'am. They could be attempting to make it into Terran space."

"Stand by to jump us to their position," Ruby said. "Weiss, get the fighters back aboard. As soon as they're back within our jump envelope, get us to the border to intercept the pirates."

"Attention all fighters, this is the X.O," Weiss said, "Return to base immediately, repeat, return to base immediately."

After what felt like an hour, Weiss spoke up again. "All fighters are within our jump envelope, Ruby, we can jump at any time."

"Helm, jump now!" Ruby called.

There was a brilliant flash, and the asteroid field and planet vanished from space, replaced by an empty starfield. Ruby looked at the tactical display, searching for where the Pirate cruiser was.

"Shit," she muttered. "They're about to cross the border! Railguns, do you have a shot?"

"Not yet, ma'am," the intercom blared. "It'll be another couple of seconds before we can get a bead on them!"

Ruby could only watch as the pirate ship slid across the red wall on the tactical display that represented the Remnant Federation and Terran Imperium's shared border. Suddenly, there was a series of bright flashes, and twenty new ships appeared on the tactical display. Without warning, every single ships that had just jumped in opened fire on the pirate ship. Autocannons, railguns, and particle beam cannons cleaved through the pirate's shields, and ripped the hull open before they had a chance to react. After only a couple seconds of fire, the pirate cruiser began to quickly and silently fall apart under the barrages of fire that had been unleashed upon it. Ruby and Weiss could only stand in awe of the power that had just been displayed.

"Ma'am, incoming transmission!" the ship's communications officer called.

"Put it through," Ruby said as she shook out the surprise from watching the pirate cruiser getting torn apart.

"Attention, Remnant Federation ship," a voice boomed throughout the bridge, "This is Fleet Admiral Lucas Williams of the U.S.C. Athena. Stand down immediately."

"Athena, this is Captain Rose of the R.F.S. Vale," Ruby called. "That ship you destroyed had Remnant citizens on board. You can't seriously expect-"

"Ruby, allow me," Admiral Qrow said. "Williams? This is Admiral Qrow, are you there?"

"Yes. I wasn't aware you were on board that ship," Admiral Williams replied.

"Is there any way I can convince you to release the pirate ship's black box? There have been some Remnant naval ships participating in pirate raids here, and I'd like to see if they have any intel."

The bridge was silent for a minute. "That will be fine, Qrow," Admiral Williams finally replied. "We'll bring it over on board a shuttle as soon as we finish copying all of the data off of it."

"Very well," Admiral Qrow said as he cut off communication with the Athena.

"Sir, that black box could have something valuable!" Weiss said.

"Trust me, Commander," Qrow replied. "As it is, them returning the box to us is a sign of good faith on their part. Legally speaking, according to the Remnant-Earth treaty, they could have simply taken the box and left without another word."

"But, sir-"

"Let it go, Commander Schnee."

Weiss sighed. "Yes, sir."

"They'll probably be done in a few minutes," Admiral Qrow said. "Ruby, Weiss, I want the two of you there with me."

"Aye, sir," both officers replied.

* * *

Ruby stared at the massive, blocky, shuttle as it slowly touched down in the hangar of the R.F.S. Vale. The doors hissed open, and two people, both fully covered in gleaming black armor, stepped out with rifles in hand. Following them was a young woman with long, rust-colored hair tied into a ponytail with her bangs swept to the right side of her face, and piercing gray eyes. Following her was a young man with short, brown hair, brown eyes, a thin build, and a gaze that seemed to read your every move. Both of the unarmored figures wore white-and-blue uniforms, standing in stark contrast to the dark blues and blacks of the Remnant naval uniforms that Ruby and Weiss wore. Ruby could tell just by looking at them that they were definitely a force you would want to have on your side in a battle.

"Admiral Qrow," the man said. "How come you haven't retired yet?"

"I've told you, Williams," Admiral Qrow replied. "The day I retire is the day the ship falls out from under me."

"And who else is this with you?" Admiral Williams asked.

"Ah, apologies," Admiral Qrow said. "Admiral Williams, this is Commander Weiss Schnee, X.O. of the Vale, and my niece, Captain Ruby Rose, commanding officer of the Vale. Commander Schnee, Ruby, this is Fleet Admiral Lucas Williams, commander of the United Space Command navy."

"Captain Rose, Commander Schnee," the other Admiral replied. "this is Commander Anna Carter, X.O. of the Athena."

"So, do you have the black box?" Admiral Qrow asked.

"Right aboard the shuttle," Admiral Williams replied as he turned to the two armored figures. "You two, go get the black box."

The both saluted and stepped back inside the shuttle.

"So, I don't suppose you have some time to catch up a little?" Admiral Qrow asked.

"Unfortunately, no," Admiral Williams responded. "There have been a number of pirate raids coming from the border near the artifact, and I want to make sure that they're isolated incidents and not part of something bigger."

"Oh well. Perhaps next time then."

"Stay safe out there, Qrow," Admiral Williams said as he started to walk back to the shuttle while the two soldiers set the black box on the deck.

"You too, Williams," Qrow replied.

* * *

Summer Rose walked up to the Captain's quarters on board the R.F.S. Haven and reached over to the console, but stopped herself as she heard Commodore Ironwood speaking to someone inside.

"Commander, Cinder wants us to join her and the rest of the fleet at the artifact by the end of the week. Can you get me a list of everyone who disagrees with our plans to eliminate the Terran Imperium before the end of the day?"

"Aye, sir," a voice belonging to Commander Mercury Black replied.

Summer started to run through the corridors until she finally got to her quarters. The door hissed open as she tapped the console, and she walked inside and locked the door. She activated her personal console.

"Computer, access all recent communications," she said quickly.

A long list appeared on the screen, and Summer started to scroll through until she finally came to one entry that was merely labeled as 'REDACTED.' She tapped the option on the screen that said play, and listened closely.

"Commodore," a Woman's voice said. "I want you to join the fleet that has gathered a the artifact before the week is done."

"Yes, ma'am," Ironwood's voice replied. "What do you want me to do with anyone who might oppose us?"

"Eliminate them. By any means necessary," the woman replied.

"Very well."

"I am sending you the plans so that you may look over them, just to confirm that the military will not be able to truly respond to our efforts."

Summer stared at the screen for a few moments. She tapped the download button on the console. When then download finished Summer started in disbelief at the screen.

"I need to warn Qrow," she muttered.

Before she could open up a communications channel, however, there was a loud bang on her door.

"Lieutenant Commander Rose, open the door!" whoever was on the other side yelled. "You are under arrest for the crime of treason!"

* * *

**A/N****: And the plot thickens! Don't worry, I won't let the whole Summer Rose being arrested thing drag on for too long. I personally hate it when stuff like that in TV shows gets dragged out when it could very easily have been handled with only a couple of episodes. Anyway, since I haven't quite covered it yet, let me give you all a quick rundown of how ships are classed in this universe:  
**

**Fighter: Small, darty craft designed to engage bombers, gunships, and other fighters (all ships frigate-size and larger have at least one squadron of fighters)**

**Bomber: Larger, slower small craft carrying torpedoes and other ordinance to destroy capital ships**

**Gunship: Basically a boarding craft. Carries a squad of troops to do whatever it is they're going to do.**

**Corvette/Flak Frigate: anti-fighter ships. Lots of small, fast-firing, weapons**

**Frigate: Small fast warships designed for hit-and-run attacks**

**Destroyer: Larger and better armed than a frigate. Typically the leader of "wolf-packs" of 3-4 frigates.**

**Cruiser: The poor, bloody infantry of the fleet. Designed to engage in stand-up fights with other ships**

**Battleship: Larger, tougher, and better armed than cruisers.**

**Carrier: Bigger than a battleship, but not as capable in a direct fight. Instead designed to use its fighters and bombers while it stays back.**

**Battle-Carrier: Carries almost as much firepower as a battleship, while having nearly the carrying capacity of a carrier. The R.F.S. Beacon and R.F.S. Haven belong here.**

**Dreadnought: Biggest ship in the fleet. Has sufficient firepower to level a small moon, and has more fighters than a carrier. This is the R.F.S. Vale, and U.S.C. Athena**

**There we go! Thanks for reading everyone! Stay tuned for the next chapter of Lone White Rose, and remember to check out my two new fanfics: The Path We Walk, and The Rose Guardian!**


	11. Ch 11: Thus Kindly I Scatter

"Captain," Admiral Qrow said as he approached Ruby on the bridge of the Vale.

Ruby turned briefly from the tactical display and looked at her uncle. "Sir, is there something I can do for you?" she asked.

"No, Ruby" the older man replied. "I just wished to inform you that I was going to take my leave back to Remnant."

"Are you sure?" Ruby said as she leaned on the display.

"Absolutely. I have no reason to be here, and don't want to compromise your authority," Qrow replied, saluting Ruby. "The ship is yours." Qrow turned to leave before glancing over his shoulder at Ruby. "By the way, have you had a chance to meet your squadron commanders yet?"

"No. Why?" Ruby asked.

"Well, I think you'll like them," Qrow said with a mischievous smile.

Ruby sighed. "Attention all fighter squadron leaders, this is the captain," Ruby called into the intercom, "Report to my quarters at the end of alpha shift."

"Good luck, captain," Qrow said with a salute as he left the bridge.

* * *

Ruby sat down in her quarters, which were about twice the size of her quarters on the Beacon. Despite her only being captain for less than a day, she already had an immense stack of reports to go through. With a sigh, she reached for the first paper on the stack just as her door chimed.

"Enter," Ruby called.

"Ma'am, your pilots reporting as requested," A cocky female voice said.

Ruby looked up to her door, and saw a woman with a set of black-lensed aviators, a black, artist's style beret, and short, chocolate-colored hair that came to a long, caramel-colored tip on the right side. Beside her stood a woman with innocent brown eyes, and long, brown hair with a pair of similarly colored rabbit ears. Behind them stood a young man with orange hair and dark skin, and a tall man with dark eyes, short, jet black hair, and lightly tanned skin.

"I am Lieutenant Commander Coco Adel," the woman said as she started to point to the other four people that had arrived with her, "These are Lieutenants Velvet Scarletina, Fox Alistair, and Yatsuhashi Daichi."

"Nice to meet you," Ruby said. "But... uh... I'm pretty sure I saw more than four squadrons of fighters during the battle earlier today."

Coco glanced behind her. "The rest of the squadron leaders should be here in just a moment."

As if on cue, leading a group of suspiciously familiar pilots was a tall woman with shimmering, lilac eyes, and long, golden-blonde hair.

"'Sup sis," Yang said with a cocky grin.

"Yang!" Ruby cried happily. "What are you doing here?"

"Qrow wanted you to have the best pilots available, and the Beacon had some of the best squadron leaders," Blake said calmly as she stepped into view. "As a result, the choice was completely natural."

"Let me guess, Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren are here too?" Ruby said.

"Heh, yeah," Jaune said nervously as he walked up next to Blake.

"Anyone else?" Ruby asked.

"Not right now," Coco replied. "I personally made the decision the have five flights to a squadron instead of four, to reduce any conflict between squadron leaders."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"Well, I served on the carrier Dust before this posting," Coco replied. "I noticed that, with the large number of fighters that carriers have, squad leaders can occasionally lose track of who's in their unit, particularly in a larger dogfight. As a result, they'll accidently pick someone from another unit to preform a task for their squadron. This often caused confusion in the ranks of my pilots, especially when we're operating off of a predetermined flight plan."

"So, you think that having fewer officers means that it's less likely pilots will get confused about who's giving them what orders?" Ruby said.

"Yeah," Coco replied.

"That actually sounds like a good idea," Ruby said with a nod. "Is there anything else?"

"Not at the moment, ma'am," Coco replied.

"Well, then I'll see you guys around!" Ruby said, and all ten pilots filed out of the room.

"Captain," the intercom blared suddenly as Ruby walked to her bed to lay down. "This is the bridge, please respond."

Ruby sighed and walked over to the door, where her own terminal was. She tapped the button and said, "Captain Rose, go ahead."

"Ma'am, incoming transmission for you from the R.F.S. Haven," the voice on the other end replied.

"Okay, put it through to my quarters."

Ruby walked back over to her desk and sat down as the computer screen there changed to show a familiar red-and-black haired woman.

"Mom!" Ruby cheered happily. "What's-"

"Is this a secure channel?" Summer interrupted.

"Uh hang on a sec," Ruby said, slightly confused as she tapped several controls on the console. "There, what's going on?"

"I've been arrested for treason," Ruby's mother said. Ruby opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by her mother, who said, "I have a data file here that you need to get to Admiral Qrow that implicates Ironwood, as well as a number of other captains, with high treason against the Federation, as well as plans for an attack on the Terran Imperium."

"What?" Ruby said, stunned, as she watched the download progress bar quickly fill.

"Listen," Summer said. "Just, get this to Admiral Qrow. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

Ruby glanced at the file. "But it says here that they plan to execute you in less than a week!" Ruby said, worry creeping into her voice.

Summer gave Ruby a brave smile, even though there was a hint of fear in her silver eyes. "I'll be fine, Ruby. I have to go, but be brave for me, okay?"

"O-okay," Ruby stammered, sounding like she was five years old as tears began to form in her eyes.

"I love you, Ruby," Summer said, just as the transmission cut out.

Ruby sat there for a second. Suddenly, she jumped from her chair and tapped the intercom. "Bridge, this is Captain Rose, get me Admiral Qrow on a secure line!"

* * *

"All right, everyone," Ruby said as she and her other senior officers around the large briefing table. "Here's the deal. Ironwood, as well as most of the crew of the Haven, are about to commit treason against the Federation."

"What?" Weiss shouted. "Ironwood is one of the most decorated officers in the Navy! Why would he commit treason?"

"I'm not sure," Ruby said with a sigh. "All I know is that my mother sent me this data file just before she was arrested for treason herself by Ironwood."

Ruby pulled up the file, and the holographic display shimmered to life. A long list of names and ships came up, as well as a large tactical map of the Terran-Remnant border.

"This is the file that my mom sent me," Ruby said. "Every single captain and officer that is intending to betray the Federation, as well as a plan of attack on the Terran Imperium. Admiral Qrow is going to inform the Terran Admiralty of the threat, and we've been ordered to capture Ironwood. By any means necessary."

"Including force?" Weiss asked nervously.

Ruby nodded. "We're going to jump in about a half of a kilometer from the Haven and fire to disable. Target priority will be as follows: Weapons, phase drive, long-range comms, engines, and then the shield generator."

"Ruby, are you sure about this?" Weiss asked. "Attacking another Remnant naval ship?"

Ruby sighed. "We don't really have a lot of choice. This is a chance for us to stop this plot before it starts."

"I... I guess you have a point." Weiss said with a hint of resignation.

"Anyone else?" Ruby asked. Receiving no response, she stood from her seat and looked around at the other officers. "All right, go talk to your departments, and tell them what's going on. The operation begins in one hour. Good luck everyone."

Ruby watched as everyone except for Weiss filed out.

"Are you all right, Ruby?" Weiss asked.

Ruby shook her head. "I'm worried about my mother. I... Yang and I have already lost most of our family. I don't want to lose her too."

Weiss wrapped her arms firmly around Ruby, and let the latter girl bury her head in the crook of Weiss' neck.

"Don't worry, Ruby" Weiss said quietly, running her hand through the captain's soft hair. "I'm sure she'll be just fine."

"I hope so," Ruby muttered.

* * *

Ironwood stood at the window of the bridge staring out among the stars.

"Sir!" his sensors officer yelled suddenly. "Massive phase contact right on top of us!"

"What do you mean?" Ironwood demanded.

Suddenly, a bright flash enveloped the ship, and a massive object appeared immediately to the right of where the Haven was sitting. Ironwood could only watch as the new ship leveled its massive cannons on his own. The ship's railguns silently spat shells at Ironwood's ship, tearing through the shields and slamming into the hull. The railguns were followed by a massive, sustained barrage of particle cannon blasts, which started to rip into several critical systems. Then, almost as suddenly as the barrage started, the ship's weapons stopped firing, leaving an eerie silence on the bridge.

"Sir," one of the officers called. "We've lost all weapons, our shield generator is down, we've lost our phase drive, engines are offline, and long range comms are out."

"I don't suppose you have any good news?" Ironwood asked irritably.

"Well, going by the fact that nobody died to an exploding console, I'd say the circuit breakers still work."

Ironwood rolled his eyes angrily.

"Sir, incoming transmission from the ship," one of the officer's called.

* * *

"Comms, open a channel to the Haven," Ruby called as the rumbling from the ship's weapons finally stopped.

"Aye, ma'am, channel open."

"Commodore Ironwood, this is Captain Rose acting with the authority of Admiral Qrow," Ruby called. "You are hereby ordered to stand down and surrender your command for the charge of high treason against the Remnant Federation."

"Any response?" Weiss asked after several minutes of silence.

"No, ma'am. No response from Ironwood or any other officers on the Haven."

Ruby sighed. "All right, get every marine that we have available into the gunships. I'm going over with them," she called as she walked over to the bridges entrance.

"Ruby, that's against regulations!" Weiss said.

"That's my mother over there, Weiss!" Ruby replied, turning away from the door. "If I was over there, wouldn't _you_ do the same thing?"

"Ruby," Weiss said, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I understand that you want to protect your mother, but your place is here on the bridge. If you want, I'll go with the marines and personally see that your mother gets out safely."

Ruby sighed. "Fine," she muttered. "But let me know as _soon_ as you find her."

"Don't worry, I will," Weiss replied with a nod as she left the bridge.

* * *

"So, Ice Queen, you're joining us ground pounders this time, huh?" a blue-haired marine said as Weiss stepped into the gunship.

"Neptune, right?" Weiss asked, and the marine nodded. "The captain wanted to be on that ship herself, but sadly, she's not allowed to."

"Well, come on, go ahead and get aboard," Neptune said.

"What, no flirting?" Weiss asked.

"Nah, I've already heard about you and the captain, snow angel," Neptune replied. "You two are safe. The captain's sister, though? Hmmm..."

"I'd be careful there, if I were you, Neptune," Weiss stated, looking at Neptune.

"Eh, going by your status with the captain, I'd say I don't have a lot to worry about," Neptune said.

"It's not Ruby I'm worried about. I'd be more concerned about Yang herself."

Neptune laughed. "So I've heard. Come on, we're about to launch."

The ship shuddered as it lifted off from the hangar deck. An entire swarm of smaller craft slowly emerged from the Vale's hangar. The fleet of gunships maneuvered towards the large door at the front of the Haven.

"Ma'am," the gunship's pilot called as they came to a stop in front of the Haven, "The Haven's hangar bay door is still closed."

"Do we have enough firepower to break it open?" Weiss asked as she walked into the cockpit.

"I think so," the pilot replied as she keyed her helmet's microphone. "All gunships, this is Thorn, open fire on the Haven's hangar door with everything you've got."

A barrage of small energy blasts sped away from the formation of gunships and slammed into the door, slowly burning and pitting it, until finally, it simply broke away.

"All gunships, this is Thorn," the pilot called again. "Move into the hangar."

The formation moved ponderously into the hangar. Their shields shimmered a light blue as they passed through the magnetic field keeping the atmosphere in place. Suddenly, a series of small energy weapon blasts sped away from stacks of crates around the hangar deck of the Haven, and started to spark against the shields of the gunships.

"Can you take them out?" Weiss yelled over the sounds of the shields being impacted.

"Negative, ma'am," the pilot replied. "Too much risk of causing a fuel explosion! I'll try to set us down in cover!"

The gunship gently turned as more and more weapons sparked off of the shields. After what felt like hours, they finally made it to a corner of the massive room, the gunship lightly touched the ground. The shields flared once more as they shut down, and the door opened. Weiss and the marines that were on the gunship with her sprinted off and crouched down behind cluster of crates. Weiss peeked over her cover, and saw the other gunships setting down as well as they disgorged their own troops. All around the room, marines took cover and opened fire on the Haven's troops. Weiss winced as a triplet of laser blasts struck the crate she was hiding behind. She looked over, and fired a pair of blasts from her pistol, and heard a pained grunt as she ducked down again.

Suddenly, there was a yell of, "Squad three, squad four, move up, left flank!" and a group of marines leapt from their positions, and started to run along the port side of the hangar, firing bursts from their rifles in the direction of the entrance to the hangar, where the vast majority of weapons fire was coming from. After a series of grunts and screams as the Haven's marines were struck by weapons fire from the Vale's, the hangar deck became eerily silent. There was a shout of "Clear?" followed by several others responding in kind.

"All clear!" Neptune called as he walked over to Weiss. "So, what's the plan, Ice Queen?"

Weiss look around the hangar. "I want us divided into four teams," she said. "One team takes the bridge, one takes auxiliary control, one takes main engineering, and the last one goes with me to the brig."

"Okay, the first three I get, but why the brig?" Neptune asked.

"Because," Weiss said as she looked at the blue-haired marine, "Ironwood took a number of people who opposed his... plan prisoner there. We're going to get them out."

"If you say so, ma'am." Neptune turned to the rest of the marines. "Squads two, three, and four, you take the bridge. Squads five and six, hit auxiliary control. Squads seven and eight, take main engineering. Squad one, you're with me. We're going to break some people out of the brig. Let's move!"

The hangar echoed with a chorus of "Yes sir's," and everyone started to file out of the hangar, weapons held at the ready in the event anyone decided to start shooting. Weiss gripped her pistol, and followed Neptune's group as they wove through the halls, stopping occasionally to make sure nobody attacked them. After several long, tense minutes, broken only by occasional shouts of "Clear!" they finally arrived outside a room with a well-plated door.

"Set up to breach," Neptune said as he pressed himself against the wall.

One of the other marines stepped up to the console next to the door and pulled out a small device, which he placed against the console. After he tapped in a few commands, the door hissed open slightly, and Neptune pulled it the rest of the way open, only to be accosted by a barrage of weapons fire.

"Shit," Neptune muttered. "Return fire!"

Weiss glanced around the corner in the direction the attack was coming form. "Four of them," she called over the din of energy weapons slamming into the hull around them. "All taking cover behind the operator's console!"

"All right," Neptune said with a nod. "Scarlet, Sage, get suppressing fire on them, now!"

Both marines nodded and ran through the doorway, unleashing a barrage of their own. Weiss glanced in again, just in time to see all four of the enemy marines duck down behind the console again.

"Alright, they're suppressed," Weiss said. "Come on, let's move in."

Neptune nodded and followed Weiss in. Both ran around either side of the room until they managed to get to the walls between the console where the Haven's marines were taking cover and the prison cells themselves. Neptune and Weiss glanced at each other and nodded. They both brought their respective weapons up, and fired, cutting down the marines before they realized what had happened.

"Clear!" Neptune yelled.

"All clear!" one of the other marines called.

"Alright, get those prisoners out of their cells!" Neptune said.

Weiss walked down the rows of cells, until she came to the last one. Inside, there was a woman with long, black-and-red hair that was caked with blood, her uniform was torn in numerous places, and her face and exposed skin were covered in bruises.

"Lieutenant Commander Summer Rose?" Weiss asked.

"I told you assholes I'm not telling you anything," the woman spat.

"Lieutenant-Commander Rose, I'm Commander Weiss Schnee of the Vale," Weiss said as she quickly opened the door. "We're here to get you out."

"Schnee?" Summer said as she looked up. "I thought you were on the Beacon."

"Until yesterday, Ruby and I were," Weiss replied, undoing Summer's restraints. "Now we're the Captain and XO of the Vale, respectively. I'll take you to her as soon as we're done here."

Summer let out a pained laugh. "So, my daughter's a captain, huh?"

"Yes, she is," Weiss said with a smile.

"Ma'am," Neptune said. "Reports from the other teams. The ship is ours."

"Good," Weiss replied. "What about Ironwood?"

"He and his command staff surrendered when we stormed the bridge," Neptune said.

"Alright, let's get back to the Vale and tell Qrow," Weiss said with a nod. "Miss Rose?"

"I take it you crippled the ship?" she asked, to which Weiss replied with a nod. "I guess I'm going with you then."

* * *

"Mom!" Ruby yelled as she ran to hug her mother in the Vale's medical bay.

'Good to see you, kiddo," Summer replied. "Or I suppose I should say 'ma'am.'"

"Come on, mom, you don't _have_ to do that," Ruby moaned.

"I'm just joking with you, Ruby," Summer said. "It's good to see you again."

"Good to see you too mom," Ruby said with a smile as she hugged her mother.

"Gah," Ruby's mother grunted. "Um, Ruby? Broken ribs."

"Oh, uh, sorry," Ruby said, scratching her head.

"It's okay... _ma'am_," Summer said as she smiled and saluted her daughter.

"Mom!" Ruby groaned.

* * *

**A/N: There you folks go! Chapter 11 and Summer made it through! Oh, and 200 follows! Shoutout to Commander789 for putting me at that number! Thanks to each and every one of you! You all are awesome!**

**Oh, and I know that the ground combat scene was a little break from the norm of what this story is, but if you all just bear with me, I'd like some feedback on it, because that's kind of serving as a prototype for some of the scenes that will be happening in "The Path We Walk." I've written some space action scenes before I came here, but ground has never really been my forte, so if you all could tell me what worked and what didn't, that would be awesome!**

**As always, thanks for reading! Up next, I've got a brief one-shot I've been working on, followed by chapter 21 of A Lone White Rose! See you next time!**


	12. Ch 12: Bloodied Rose

Weiss paced around the Vale's bridge, looking over the tactical display as she walked.

"Commander?" The communications officer called. "Incoming transmission from Admiral Qrow."

"Put it through," Weiss replied tiredly.

Admiral Qrow's image appeared in the corner of the tactical display. "Commander Schnee, is my niece there?"

"One moment," Weiss replied as she tapped the mute button and activated the intercom. "Captain Rose to the bridge. Repeat, Captain Rose, report to the bridge."

"On my way," Ruby's voice came through the bridge intercom.

It took several minutes, but the bridge doors finally hissed open, and one of the marines yelled out "Captain on deck!"

Weiss turned to the door and snapped to attention.

"As you were," Ruby called tiredly. "You called, Weiss?"

"Yes, your Uncle needs to speak with you."

Sighing, Ruby looked at the tactical display, and pressed the mute button. "Good evening, Uncle," She said.

"Ruby, I need you and Commander Schnee to accompany me into Terran Imperium territory to meet with Admiral Williams."

"We'll be there, sir," Ruby replied. "Where are you?"

"The Shadow of Light sector Naval Yard. I'm monitoring the construction of the R.F.S. Atlas, the next ship in the Vale class."

"Alright," Ruby said. "Helm, standby to jump to the Shadow of Light sector."

"Attention all hands, this is the X.O," Weiss called after tapping the intercom button, "prepare for phase Jump."

"Helm jump now," Ruby called.

Almost immediately after she finished saying that, there was a brilliant flash outside the window from the energy discharge of the phase drive as the ship tore a hole in space to move to its destination. When the light cleared, the hull was illuminated by the twin blue giants of the Shadow of Light sector

"Status?" Ruby called after the jump finished.

"Jump complete, Ruby," Weiss replied. "We are about three-hundred kilometers away from the naval yard and closing."

"Good," Ruby replied with a nod. "Helm, all power to engines. What's our ETA?"

"About five minutes, captain. Just to let you know, we're about to enter the solar radiation belt, and we won't be able to jump once the phase drive is recharged until we're out of the belt."

"Weiss, tell the Admiral we're going to dock at yard seventeen. I'm going to the airlock to meet him."

"Aye, aye Ruby," Weiss replied.

* * *

"Good to see you again, Ruby," Qrow said with a smile as the airlock hissed open.

"I'm sorry about Ironwood," Ruby replied, sounding a little mournful.

"He was a traitor," Qrow replied with a shrug. "When the trial concludes, he'll get his justice. Come on, let's get to the bridge."

Ruby followed her uncle as they walked through the corridors. "So, how's mom doing?" she asked.

"She's recovering quite well. Commodore Rose should be back in the fight in no time."

"Goo- Wait, did you say 'Commodore Rose?'"

Qrow nodded. "Because of her quick thinking, we managed to eliminate a vast swath of traitors from the upper echelons of the Navy. It's only appropriate that she be given a rank fitting her accomplishment. Not to mention the fact that we needed a new Commodore after Ironwood."

Ruby let out a contented sigh as she summoned the elevator. "I'm glad she got promoted," She said. "Honestly, having my mom call me ma'am? _Weird_."

Qrow chuckled. "I imagine so."

Ruby and Qrow stepped into the elevator. "Bridge," she called, and the elevator hissed away. Ruby and her uncle stood silently as they waited.

"Captain on deck!" a marine yelled as the door hissed open.

"As you were," Ruby called, and the crew returned to their stations.

"Drive is about ten-percent charged," Weiss said as Ruby walked up to the tactical display.

"Helm, take us out of the dock yard. Weiss, how long until we're out of range of interference from the suns?" Ruby asked.

"Once we launch from the dockyard, about ten minutes," Weiss replied. "It'll still take about fifteen more minutes for the phase drive to finish charging once we arrive." {**A/N**}

"Okay," Ruby replied with a nod. "When we're ready to jump, take us to... Where were we going exactly?"

"The Terra Nova sector," Qrow said.

"Yes, ma'am," the helm officer said.

"Guess we just need to sit and wait now," Ruby quipped as she leaned against the tactical display.

* * *

"Captain, phase drive is standing by," Weiss said.

"Good," Ruby replied. "Helm, jump us to the Terra Nova sector."

"Aye aye."

Space flashed again, and the brilliant light of the Shadow of Light sector was replaced by a blue-green world with a complicated ring system that seemed as though it would belong to a gas giant..

"Captain, incoming transmission from the U.S.C. Athena," one of the officers called.

"Put it through," Ruby replied with a nod.

Admiral Williams' face appeared in a corner of the tactical display. "Captain Rose," he said with a nod. "Good to see you again. And I'm glad we're meeting on better circumstances than last time."

"So, what's going on?" Ruby asked.

"I need you, your X.O, and Admiral Qrow to come aboard the Athena to discuss our findings from the blackbox of that pirate cruiser, as well as your revelations from the rogue Commodore that you eliminated several weeks ago."

"We'll be there soon," Ruby said with a nod as she activated the intercom. "Lieutenant Commander Adel to the bridge."

Ruby waited for several minutes before the chocolate-haired woman arrived.

"You called?" she asked.

"Yeah, Admiral Qrow, Commander Schnee, and I all need to go to the U.S.C. Athena. You have the deck until we get back, Coco," Ruby said

"Sounds good," the woman replied. "Don't take too long. I'd like to go back on my break."

* * *

The shuttle approached the massive, angular, gunmetal-grey ship. It was nearly as long as the Vale, and significantly wider, with a pair of large nacelles that ran half the length of the ship that had massive thrusters mounted at the aft, with two more similarly-sized thrusters mounted on the side main hull. Towards the front were two more more nacelles mounted closer to the hull, each with another massive thruster mounted at the rear. The shuttle flew low over the broad ship, and Ruby could not help but stare at the ship. The multitude of antennae and other items protruding from the hull combined with the bulky form to give an image to the ship that was a far cry from the sleek lines of the ships in the Remnant Federation.

"Athena control, this is Remnant shuttle pilot, callsign Thorn," the pilot called. "Requesting landing clearance."

"Thorn, this is Athena control," the ship's radio crackled, "Sending vector now. You cleared to land when ready."

"Confirmed, coming in now," Thorn replied.

The shuttle glided along the hull, passing next to a pair of small, bunker-like structures that were mounted near the rear of the ship. Finally, as they passed the aft of the ship. the pilot swung the shuttle around and fired the main engines again, slowing the ship to a brief stop. The shuttle nosed down, and the pilot fired the engines again, slowly bringing the shuttle to the set of small doors on the bottom of the ship between the two large thrusters. The shuttle passed between the thursters, and finally came to a rest within a small landing bay, where it was towed into a massive hangar that was bustling with activity. They came to a stop and the door hissed open. Weiss and Ruby stepped out first, and were immediately greeted by two long, parallel lines of marines in full dress uniforms, who all snapped to attention the moment Ruby's foot touched the deck. The meaning of the display was clear: these people were soldiers, through and through.

"Admiral Qrow, Captain Rose, Commander Schnee," Admiral Williams said as he walked between the lines of soldiers. "Welcome aboard the U.S.C. Athena."

"Quite the display you have here Williams," Admiral Qrow quipped.

"Protocol," Williams replied.

"Seems a little excessive," Ruby muttered, sounding a little nervous.

"The United Space Command is a little different than your military," Williams said. "If you'll follow me to the Strategic Command Center, I'll explain on the way."

The three Remnant Navy officers did as they were asked and followed Admiral Williams out of the hangar bay and into the corridors. The ship's interior was narrower than the Vale's, and was distinctly utilitarian, with very little space wasted, and the plating was thick, covering the ship's internals to protect the ship if it was boarded.

"The U.S.C. is very strict on operational discipline," Admiral Williams explained. "When you're at your post, you follow the orders your given. Occasionally, someone will protest an order, but it will almost always be carried out. Only in extreme cases, such as when an officer is about to commit treason, will an order be disobeyed."

"Off-duty, however," Williams continued, "is much looser. Because of our tighter duty regulations, a lot of off-duty restrictions have been reduced in comparison to our historical militaries. For instance, though your military doesn't expressly forbid relationships between personnel, they are discouraged. Here, provided they don't interfere with duties, what a member of the military does in their off-duty hours is fully their business. We even have full-contact sparring rings. Beating each other senseless apparently does wonders for stress."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Ruby asked.

"No, all matches are carefully monitored. Don't want anyone to suffer a crippling injury from a stray blow to the head."

Finally, they arrived outside of an elevator door, which hissed open at their approach.

"S.C.C," Admiral Williams called, and the elevator hissed away.

All four stood in silence until the elevator finally arrived. The door hissed open, revealing a massive room with numerous, complicated looking displays, with crewmembers carefully watching each one. In the center of the room was a massive holographic map that currently displayed the entire galaxy.

"Welcome to the nerve center of the United Space Command Navy's first fleet,," Admiral Williams said. "There's one on all twelve of the Zeus class dreadnoughts. From here, an Admiral can direct an entire battle without distraction from the bridge crew."

"So, what did you need to show us?" Admiral Qrow asked. "I imagine you didn't bring us out here to show us where you direct your fleet."

"Follow me please."

All four walked to the large hologram in the center of the room.

"Athena," Admiral Williams said.

"Yes, sir?" asked a woman's voice from seemingly nowhere.

"Pull up the data you got from the black box."

"One moment," the disembodied voice paused, and the hologram shifted, revealing an image of a series of three large, concentric rings with a number of ships surrounding it that were so small they might have just been simple dots. "There, done."

"Who's that?" Ruby asked cautiously.

"Athena, the ship's A.I." Admiral Williams replied, glancing at Ruby. "All U.S.C. ships have an A.I. on board to assist in running the ship."

"Aren't A.I.'s incredibly dangerous?" Weiss asked, growing visibly nervous.

"Yeah, kinda," the A.I. replied. "Honestly though, killing these guys wouldn't be a very good idea. Without them, I'd probably be space debris."

"Umm... What?" Ruby asked.

"Honestly, in a battle between A.I.'s, the better one will always win," Athena said. "People, however, are notoriously unpredictable. As a result, I, along with all other A.I.'s, all take care of tasks that normally require extremely fast reaction times or precision, such as electronic warfare and point defense systems, while the meatbags-

"Athena," Admiral Williams scolded.

"Sorry, the organic crew," the A.I. corrected with a laugh, "handles everything else, such as helm control and primary weapons."

Admiral Williams sighed. "Anyway, take a look at the strategic display. What do you see?"

Ruby studied the rings shown in the hologram. "This looks like the artifact on the border of the Federation," she said.

Admiral Williams manipulated the hologram, zooming in on the small red blips that surrounded the rings. "What do these look like?"

"Remnant Navy ships and pirate vessels," Ruby said sounding slightly worried. "But I thought the ships at the artifact were some other race."

"Athena, open the video from the black box."

The hologram changed again, showing a two-dimensional screen. In the image. On the screen were the images of a battle, as particle cannon and railgun barrages flew away from the camera, while beams of energy lanced ships nearby, tunneling holes through some, and cleaving others apart before the video suddenly cut out.

"Was there anything else there?" Qrow asked.

Admiral Williams shook his head. "We believe the ship took an E.M.P. that knocked it out until well after the battle was over. The next action it saw was when you forced the ship over our border. As for the rest of the data on the box, most of it was useless, but there is another copy of that invasion plan you sent me."

"So, what's your plan to deal with it?" Admiral Qrow asked.

"I have a few ideas that I'm not ready to share yet, but I have already started ordering the evacuation of our outer colonies to the fortress worlds."

"Is there anything else you need to share with us?"

"There is one other thing. A rogue Remnant Naval ship has been sighted near one of our colonies. We believe that it might be scouting the area for the coming attack."

"Thank you Williams, we'll deal with it as soon as we're done here. Was there anything else?"

"Not for now," Williams replied.

"Then we'll get back to our ship."

"I'll talk to you soon, Qrow."

* * *

"Ruby, Admiral Qrow's shuttle has departed for the shipyards at Shadow of Light," Weiss said.

"Good," Ruby said. "Helm, stand by to jump to the border at these coordinates." She typed a few numbers into the display and tapped a command to send the coordinates to the helm console.

"Standing by to jump, ma'am."

"Do it," Ruby said with a nod.

The window flashed and, when the window cleared, it revealed an empty star field with a single ship hovering in the distance.

"That must be the ship," Ruby said, "Open a channel."

Weiss tapped a control on the side of the tactical display. "Channel open, Ruby."

"Attention Remnant Naval vessel," Ruby called. "This is Captain Rose of the R.F.S. Vale. Stand down and prepare to be boarded."

"Ruby? You're a captain now?" A female voice asked.

Ruby's face paled. "P-Penny? is that you?"

"Yeah! It's good to see you, friend!" she replied energetically.

"Who's Penny?" Weiss questioned cautiously.

Ruby looked down in shame. "She took me under her wing in the academy, and we even dated briefly towards the end of my first year. But she was on her last year of the academy, so we broke up shortly before Penny completed her training. I though she was killed when the R.F.S. Relic vanished and was assumed destroyed."

"No," Penny replied over the communication link. "Commodore Ironwood ordered me to join th rebel group to protect the people of the Remnant Federation against Terran aggression."

"Penny, Ironwood was committing _treason_!" Ruby practically yelled.

"That doesn't matter," Penny insisted. "Part of our oath is to protect the Federation above all else, and that's what we're doing by preparing for another war."

"But we're essentially allies with the Terrans now!" Ruby argued. "Not to mention the fact that they've pulled most of their fleet away from our border!"

"Ruby, please don't make this any harder than it needs to be."

"Penny, what you're doing is putting the entire Federation at risk!"

"But if we don't, the Terrans will eventually-"

"Comms, cut the channel," Ruby demanded. "Weiss, sound red alert. Helm, bring us in to broadside."

"All hands, this is the X.O." Weiss called into the intercom. "Red alert, all hands to battle stations. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill."

The R.F.S. Vale moved ponderously forward, its main engines flaring a brilliant blue as they pushed the dreadnought towards the much smaller battleship.

"All stations report ready for action," Weiss said.

Ruby nodded. "All guns, open fire on the Relic. You are authorized to shoot to kill."

The first railgun shells sped away from the ship, slamming into the Relic's shields. The shields flared blue as they strained to withstand the impacts. The battleship turned to face the Vale, and started to move as well, attempting get along side. Smaller railgun shells slammed into the Vale's shields, and bright pulses of energy flashed away from the particle guns of both ships, causing both ship's shields to light up under the sustained barrage. Finally after several minutes of fire, the Relic's shields finally flashed brightly and disappeared, causing the Vale's weapons to start tunneling into the hull.

"Captain, the Relic's shields are offline!" One of the bridge officers yelled over the din of weapons slamming into the Vale's shields.

"Good," Ruby growled. "All batteries, continue firing."

After several more barrages of fire, the Relic was little more than a burning wreckage. Suddenly, there was a flash from the torpedo tubes just as the ship started to fall apart.

"Captain! Torpedoes incoming!" another member of the bridge staff yelled.

Ruby looked out of the window in horror as one torpedo flew straight at her, passing cleanly through the shields {**A/N**} and slamming into the bridge. The weapon detonated, and caused Ruby to fly into the wall and black out.

* * *

Weiss picked her wounded body off the deck of the ruined bridge and limped over to the tactical display table. She grunted as she painfully lifted her hand to activate the intercom.

"Attention, this is the X.O." she called painfully. "I need multiple medical and critical trauma teams to the bridge immediately."

Weiss looked over to the wall where the captain, _her_ captain lay. She slowly limped to Ruby's side and knelt down, looking at the untouched face. She cupped her hand around the side hidden from her view and brought her face around to look into her two eyes. when the rest of Ruby's face was revealed, Weiss saw just how bad Ruby was. The entire right side of Ruby's face was covered with burns, and when Weiss had gently moved Ruby's body, she noticed the young Captain's right arm was missing below the elbow. She desperately put what little strength she had left into applying pressure to the wounded arm.

_Please, please, _please _be okay,_ she thought desperately, just as the bridge doors finally hissed open and medical teams surged onto the deck.

* * *

**A/N: Story notes:**

**Phase Drives require a recharge time, and can't be used to close of large sources of radiation, such as a star. Attempting to either jump within heavy radiation or before the drive is fully charged will jump the ship, but it will cause the drive to overload and detonate, rendering it useless.**

**Torpedoes use a unique phased warhead, allowing them to pass through shields without being stopped. The warheads are expensive, which is why they're the only hard-ammo weapons that use them. Also, torpedoes are rarely used in close-quarters by capital ships because the sheer volume of fire being exchanged combined with slower relative velocity will likely result in very few if any torpedoes hitting the ships.**

**There we go! Thanks for reading everyone! And, if you like this story, then you should go check out BurningPeace's fanfic Millennial Rose, which was inspired by this one. It's a really great read already (even though it only has one chapter so far), and looks like it's going to be action packed!**

**Also, if anyone would like to do cover art for this and/or for Path We Walk, please send me a PM, as I'm still looking for someone to do those.**

**Finally, I know a few of you are going to ask why the Relic (a battleship) lasted longer than the Haven (a battlecarrier) did in combat, and that largely boils down to preparation. Penny had time to prepare her ship for combat, including increasing power to the shields to brace for the Vale's fire. In addition, the Haven was merely disabled instead of destroyed, and disabling a ship is simply a matter of hitting it in a few key spots to prevent it from fighting back or escaping.**

**As always, thanks for reading, and stay tuned for the next chapter of Lone White Rose, the last chapter before the epilogue! See ya there!**


	13. Ch 13: Scars

Weiss walked up to the door and gently placed her hand on the control panel.

"Enter," a voice from within said quietly.

The door hissed open, revealing Ruby standing at the window of her quarters staring out into the empty void of space.

"Ruby?" Weiss said. "Are you alright?"

Ruby sighed and turned to face Weiss, revealing an eye patch with the image of what looked like a burning rose covering one of her eyes and a cybernetic right arm.

"I've been off duty for a month, Weiss," Ruby replied, "Not only that, but I've managed to lose my arm and eye, and get a good portion of the crew, _my_ crew, injured or killed. I failed. Both them and myself."

"No you didn't Ruby," Weiss replied, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"But-"

Weiss pulled Ruby into a kiss, interrupting the Captain.

"No, you didn't," Weiss stated again. "You had one incident that was caused by something beyond your control. It happens to everyone. My first time in an actual combat situation, another fighter assigned to the Beacon collided with me, resulting in my fighter losing a wing and the other fighter being torn in two. The other pilot survived, and I learned a valuable lesson in watching where other pilots are in addition to where my own fighter is."

"Look at me though, Weiss!" Ruby shouted in protest, bringing up her new arm. "I'm a shell of what I was!"

"No, you're not," Weiss replied with a harsh edge to her voice. "Those are scars. Scars, I might add," she finished, pointing to the one tracing it's way over her left eye, "that we all get at some time or another."

Ruby bowed her head as a tear fell from her eye. "I'm sorry Weiss. It's just... I've felt so alone for the past month."

"You're right," Weiss replied, placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "I should have been here for you. I've been so busy handling your duties that I forgot about you. I'm sorry,"

"No need to-"

"Captain Rose, this is the bridge, come in," the intercom echoed.

Ruby sighed and reached over to the control panel. "Captain Rose, go ahead."

"Admiral Qrow wants to speak to you, Captain," the crewmember on the other end said.

"Put him through."

The console shifted, revealing Admiral Qrow's face surrounded by displays showing various sectors of the Remnant Federation.

"Ruby," he said. "Are you alright?"

"I'm doing a bit better, now that I've had a moment to talk to Weiss," Ruby replied, glancing back at her second-in command.

"Good," the Admiral stated, nodding. "Now, I unfortunately have some bad news for you," Ruby's expression fell. "Due to your injuries, we will need to reevaluate your ability to perform your duties as an officer of the fleet."

"What?" Ruby demanded. "Why?"

"Ruby, discounting the loss of your eye," Admiral Qrow replied, "Having to have a replacement arm would in and of itself be a cause for your abilities to be revaluated."

Ruby stared in shock at her uncle.

"Your evaluation will be one week from now. You have until then to get ready."

"I'll do it tomorrow," Ruby growled. "And, given I was assigned as a pilot four months ago, I hereby demand to be given a pilot's evaluation."

"Very well," Admiral Qrow sighed. "If you want to go earlier, that's your decision. You do, however, realize that the pilot's qualification is significantly more difficult than the Captain's?" Ruby nodded. "Very well. However, you won't be given another chance, remember that."

The console switched off with a certain finality as Admiral Qrow finished.

* * *

"Ready Captain?" Coco's voice echoed in Ruby's helmet.

Ruby sighed. "Yeah, I guess."

"Vale control, this is Fashion, come in," Coco said.

"Vale control, go ahead," Weiss replied.

"We are ready for launch."

"Confirmed, launching now."

Ruby was thrown back in her seat for the first time in what felt like ages as her fighter was catapulted into deep space. Within moments, the rough interior of the launch tube was replaced by blank space. Ruby tapped a short series of commands into her fighter's console and it began to follow Coco's as she led the pair into an asteroid field.

"Ready Reaper?" Coco asked as she and Ruby brought their fighters to a stop.

"Let's get this over with," Ruby replied.

"Alright, I'm sending course markers to your HUD now," Coco said. "If anything goes wrong, I'll override your controls, and steer you out of the way. Good luck, Cap."

The twin engines on Ruby's fighter flared to life and threw her fighter forward as she surged through the first set of rings on her HUD. the first set was easy, being in set in a wide arc that Ruby could have easily done in a freighter. Suddenly, the rings took a sharp turn to her left, and Ruby quickly rolled her fighter to the side, and pulled back hard on the stick. Ruby shook her head quickly as her vision started to grey out, and pulled her fighter around again to fly through another ring.

After what felt like an entire day of grueling maneuvers that nearly made Ruby throw up in her helmet, Ruby finally pulled her fighter through the final ring on her HUD.

"Alright, that's the maneuvering course done," Coco said. "Next up, target practice. The Vale has sent over a wave of target drones fro you to destroy. They should be arriving soon."

Eight red dots appeared on Ruby's display just as Coco finished her sentence, and she pulled her fighter in to face them.

"Hang on a sec, Reaper," Coco said. "The signatures on those are different from what a target drone's should be."

Ruby's helmet was silent aside from her breathing for several tense minutes before Weiss' panicked voice came through.

"Reaper, this is the Vale, get out there! Those new contacts are pirates! Repeat, those are not target drones! Fall back to the Vale now!"

Ruby looked at her sensor readout as shouts of protest continued to echo in her helmet, and hardened her gaze.

"Come on, Ruby get out of there," Weiss pled desperately.

"Sorry, Weiss," Ruby said quietly. "But I have to do this."

As she finished, Ruby closed her eye and started to sing.

_Red like roses fills my dreams and brings me to the place you rest_.

Ruby pushed her throttle forward and sped towards the pirate fighters.

_White is cold and always yearning, burdened by a royal test_.

Ruby heard her fighter's missile alarms start to go off.

_Black the beast descends from shadows_.

The beeping of her missile alarms started to pick up in pace.

_Yellow beauty burns... Gold_.

Ruby opened her eye just as the alert reached an almost constant tone. She hardened her gaze and threw her fighter into a roll. Her cockpit flashed as the missiles slammed into each other, exploding in a brilliant fireball. Ruby's fighter emerged from the still-dissipating smoke, spitting out its four missiles as it did so. Each one picked out a different target, and Ruby smiled as all four missiles found their marks, exploding in a glow of orange.

The remaining four pirate fighters all converged on Ruby, and she immediately flipped her fighter around and led them into the asteroids. Pulses of light flashed by her cockpit as the pirates fired at her. When she finally reached the asteroids, Ruby quickly threw her fighter into the shadow of one of the asteroids and waiting. The Pirate fighters all passed in front of her cockpit, and Ruby flared her engines to pursue. She fired a burst form her guns, her particle guns and gatling cannons shredding one fighter completely before turning to a second fighter, and doing significant damage to it before the other two fighters turned to face her, putting her back on the defensive. Ruby ably wove through the asteroids, swinging her head around to compensate for her loss of peripheral vision as weapons fire sped past her. As an asteroid sped past her canopy, Ruby caught sight of an explosion as the second fighter Ruby had damaged with her guns slammed into an asteroid.

Ruby glanced upward as another burst of weapons fire sped past her cockpit. With a faint smile, Ruby quickly decoupled her controls and flipped her fighter around , firing a burst into the cockpit of one of the last two fighters. The pirate fighter swerved into its partner, causing both to explode in a brilliant orange fireball. Ruby recoupled her fighter and did a quick roll as she flew out of the asteroid field.

"Well, color me impressed," Coco quipped through Ruby's helmet. "I guess we're done here. I'll send my report to Admiral Qrow, but, in all honesty, I think this more than proves you're capable of handling your duties. Welcome back, Captain Rose."

* * *

**A/N: Chapter done! Sorry about the wait. Getting ready to move out is hard work! Anyway, yeah, Ruby recovered from her injuries rather quickly, but reading about a month's worth of moping is boring (see Twilight as an example). As for why Ruby was allowed to do the pilot's qualification instead of the captain's, she was a high-ranking pilot, which required her to take on command-level duties. If you don't like that explanation, well... I can say much more than Rule of Cool rules.**

**Anyways, to those of you who also read The Path We Walk, don't forget about the poll! It's still an extremely close race (the leader is literally only ahead by one vote), so go vote! And, for those of you who haven't read Path We Walk yet, go take a look! Out of all of my stories, it's personally my favorite.**

**As always, thanks for reading! Up next, the epilogue to A Lone White Rose! Get ready for some serious fluff! Stay classy until then!**


	14. Ch 14: Grimm Dawn

"Admiral on deck!" a marine called from the entrance to the bridge.

Ruby and Weiss turned to the doorway and saluted.

"As you were," Admiral Qrow said, returning the salute.

"So, what's going on?" Ruby asked.

Qrow walked up to the tactical display. "We're going to meet with Fleet Admiral Williams in the Terra Nova sector to finally going to eliminate those pirates at the artifact on the Terran Border."

"Why the Terra Nova sector?" Weiss asked.

"This way we'll be able to use short range transmissions to communicate with Admiral Williams," Qrow said. "This way, it will be harder for our communication to be intercepted. Captain, you are cleared to jump."

Ruby nodded. "Helm commence jump to the Terra Nova sector."

The window wrapping around the front and sides of the bridge flashed, replacing the black space of the Shadow of Light sector with the ringed, blue and green orb Terra Nova.

"Captain, incoming transmission from the U.S.C. Athena," the communications officer called.

Ruby glanced to Admiral Qrow, who nodded. "Put it through."

"Captain Rose, Admiral Qrow," Admiral Williams said as his image appeared in the holographic tactical display.

"Admiral Williams, good to see you again," Admiral Qrow said. "Your forces are ready?"

"Task force nine of the U.S.C. seventh fleet is on standby to engage," Admiral Williams replied, manipulating off-screen controls. "What about your forces?"

"I have task force three of the fourth fleet ready to engage," Admiral Qrow replied. "What's your plan?"

"We're looking at two-to-one odds," Admiral Williams said, "So, we'll want to hit them hard and fast before they can make use of their advantage. My fleet will hit them from the galactic north side, and yours will hit them from galactic south."

"What should we do about the artifact?"

"We'll worry about it when we've won the battle," Admiral Williams said. "Signal your fleet. The battle will begin in about five minutes."

* * *

Ruby stared at the tactical display as dozens of warships flashed to life within the hologram.

"Admiral Williams, Admiral Qrow, this is Vice Admiral Walker of the U.S.C," the intercom echoed through the bridge. "Fleet is in position and ready to engage."

"Admiral Qrow, Admiral Williams, this is Vice Admiral Grey. My task force is ready to engage the enemy."

"Confirmed, Admiral Grey, you are authorized to engage," Admiral Qrow replied.

The images started to move forward, rapidly advancing towards the cluster of ships surrounding the artifact. An immense number of smaller shapes appeared on the display as the ships launched their fighters and torpedoes, and ships started to disappear from the display as they were destroyed.

"This feels weird," Ruby said as she stared at the shifting images of the battle.

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked.

"It feels like I should be out there," Ruby commented as more ships disappeared from the display. "Not back here just... Keeping score. I mean, we're not even in the same sector. I feel like I should be there."

"Then never let yourself get promoted to Admiral," Admiral Qrow said with a hint of bitterness.

* * *

The two fleets of warships moved steadily towards the artifact as their engines flared to life. Almost as soon as the two fleets started to move, barrages of particle cannon and railgun fire spat out of the Remnant Navy ship's weapons, while autocannon rounds, particle beams, and railgun shots sped away from the United Space Command warships. Torpedoes followed the barrage of less powerful weapons fire, resulting in a series of brilliant explosions illuminating the entire sector as they found their marks.

The Terran and Remnant fleets rapidly pushed towards the rogue fleet, and the three groups quickly descended into a bloody melee. Ships ponderously wove among each other as fighters deftly turned around within the fight. Two ships maneuvered to either side of the ship that Cinder stood aboard and each started to unleash a massive broadside, tearing through her ship's shield as slamming into its armor. Her ship shuddered slightly as another burst of autocannon fire from the Terran Imperium's warships stitched its way across the ship's hull.

"Ma'am, we're not going to be able to hold them off," Emerald shouted.

Cinder looked at the explosions surrounding her flagship as her forces fought bitterly to try and hold the line against the combined Terran and Remnant fleets.

"Tell the scientists to activate the artifact," Cinder said, not looking at Emerald.

"But I don't think that the scientists have figured out a way to control-"

"Don't think," Cinder interrupted as she turned and glared menacingly at Emerald. "Obey."

"Yes, ma'am," Emerald replied, bowing slightly as she left the bridge.

Cinder turned back to the window. _Soon you all will know the meaning of the word fear_.

* * *

"Admiral Qrow, this is Admiral Grey," the officer said as his image appeared in the tactical display. "We're pushing them back. Orders?"

"Keep pushing," Admiral Qrow replied. "Be careful, though. They may try to activate the artifact if you push them too hard, and we have no idea what will happen if it is activated."

"Aye, s- wait a second," the admiral said, looking off of the screen. "The artifact appears to be powering up. I think they activated it!"

'Get out of there, Grey!" Admiral Qrow said.

"Can't! Local radiation levels just spiked! Our Phase Drive can't lock on! Wait, just got a massive power surge from the artifact! What the-"

With that, the image suddenly changed to static, and the tactical display shifted to show the words _SIGNAL LOST_ hovering in front of Ruby's eyes. She glanced over to Admiral Qrow, who looked like he had seen a ghost.

"That's... That's impossible," Qrow whispered before turning to one of the bridge officers. "Fast forward and hold at the frame just before the feed cut out."

The image shifted, showing, in the place of the Admiral, what looked like a large, bipedal wolf with bony protrusions sticking out of its back, and a white bony structure with blood-red trimming covering its head.

Ruby paled. "I-is that..."

"Qrow, what the hell am I looking at?" Admiral Williams demanded as he appeared in the holographic display.

"You're seeing this too?" he asked.

"I'm looking at the last image that came from Vice Admiral Walker and the U.S.C. Victory," Admiral Williams said, glancing off of the screen, "and, instead of him, there's some kind of wolf-like thing there. I don't suppose you have an idea as to what the hell it is?"

"How much do you know about Remnant mythology?" Admiral Qrow asked, sounding distinctly haunted.

"Very little," Williams said. "Why?"

"That's where I know these things from," Admiral Qrow said. "The stories have changed several times over the years, but there are similarities among all of them. In the old stories, we were born from dust to bre strong, wise and resourceful. But, despite all of that, there was always one foe that stood in our way. They are demons, monsters, creatures of darkness. They are the creatures of Grimm."

* * *

**A/N: Hey folks, sorry about the short chapter here today. On the bright side, however, this sets up the plot for the rest of the story! War, drama, and, of course, more White Rose will all be coming your way very soon, keep an eye out for that!**

**Anyway, I know I say this a lot, but thank you all for reading, following, and favoriting, and reviewing! Each and every one of you are the reason that I'm still writing here, so, seriously, thanks! You guys are really a great audience.**

**All right folks, that's me done for today! Up next, we have the first chapter of The Rose of Victory, my Pyrrha/Ruby story set in the canon universe shortly after season 2 episode 5 (Extracurricular), so stay tuned for that! I'll see you all then!**


	15. Ch 15: Mountain Glenn

Ruby sprinted through the empty halls of the warship as alarms blared in the halls. The corridors seemed to stretch in front of her as she ran, desperately trying to reach the bridge before the battle became much more desperate. Suddenly, there was a massive blast immediately next to her, knocking her to the ground. Ruby shakily stood and looked at where the explosion had come from. The hull was blown open and exposed to space, and in the hole that had been created, Ruby saw several of the faces of the crew she had lost. She shook her head, and their faces disappeared. Ruby rubbed her eyes and continued to run the ever lengthening halls of the ship, only stopping whenever another blast knocked her down again, and each time was the same as the first, with the faces of her fallen crew boring into her eyes through another hull breach.

Finally, after what felt like hours, she stood outside of the bridge. The doors hissed open and she ran in, but stopped when she saw that there was only one person standing in the center of the room. The person leaned on the edge of the tactical display as their red-and-black hair fell in front of them. Finally, the person turned around, revealing a younger woman's face with an eye patch over her right eye and a mechanical arm replacing her right arm. Ruby stood there for what must have been hours on end, simply staring at the woman in front of her.

"Did I fail?" the other Ruby asked, a lone tear falling from her dull, grey eye. "Do I really deserve to still be a Captain?"

Ruby opened her mouth to reply, but was quickly cut off as an explosion slammed her into a wall, knocking her unconscious.

* * *

Ruby shot awake in her bed covered in sweat. As her breathing finally calmed down, she stood from her bed and walked into the small bathroom nearby. She splashed water on her face and looked at her reflection in the mirror. With a sigh, she slid her patch over her eye and looked again. Shaking her head, she walked back into the main room of her quarters and started to put on her uniform. When she finally finished getting the uniform on, she left her quarters and walked through the crowded halls of the ship until she finally made it to the bridge.

"Captain on deck!" a marine called from the entrance.

"As you were," Ruby said before the crew had much of a chance to move.

"Are you okay, Ruby?" Weiss asked as Ruby walked up to the tactical display and stood beside her.

"Had trouble sleeping," Ruby said simply.

"You really need to see the ship's surgeon about that," Weiss said worriedly. "And I'm telling you that as both your X.O. and your girlfriend."

"Yeah, I will," Ruby replied. "Don't worry, I'll be-"

"Captain, distress call coming from the Mountain Glenn colony!" the communication's officer interrupted. "Reports of unknown ships on the outer range of the planet's sensor grid."

Ruby and Weiss looked at each other worriedly. "Grimm," they both said at the same time.

"Helm, jump us there now!" Ruby called.

There was a flash, and the ship appeared in close orbit of the plant.

"Sound red alert and launch fighters," Ruby said.

"Attention all personnel, this is the X.O," Weiss said. "Red alert, all hands to battle stations, red alert, all hands to battle stations. Attention on the flight deck, scramble all fighters, repeat, scramble all fighters."

"Can you give me a status on the Grimm?" Ruby asked.

"Looks like they're still holding just out of firing range," Weiss replied, looking at the images of the Grimm's fleet as they appeared in the holographic display in front of them. "I wonder what they're waiting for?"

Suddenly, several more ships flashed to life near the Grimm fleet.

"Multiple new contacts! Probably torpedo ships, judging by the configuration," the sensors officer called.

"Get me Admiral Qrow," Ruby said.

"Captain, this isn't exactly a good time," the Admiral said as his image appeared in the corner of the display.

"I need support at my current location," Ruby said. "I've got a Grimm fleet here, and the colony appears to have not finished evacuating yet."

"If I find anything available, I'll send it your way, but for now you're on your own, Captain. Qrow, out."

Ruby sighed. "Get me the colony's governor," she called.

"Captain," the man said as he appeared on the screen. "I'm sorry we're not meeting at a better time. What can I do for you?"

"How much longer until you've finished evacuating?" Ruby asked.

"Still a couple more hours," the governor said. "You can hold them off that long, right?"

"Captain, incoming torpedoes!" one of her officers shouted. "It looks like... Yeah, they're heading straight for the planet!"

"I guess we'll see," Ruby said to the governor before closing the transmission and turning to Weiss. "What about the rest of the fleet?"

"Looks like they're holding position outside of our firing range with the torpedo ships," she replied, studying the display.

"Helm, hold position here," Ruby called. "Weapons, commence spread fire with everything we've got. I want a wall of flak between us and the Grimm. Weiss, tell the fighters to take up defensive positions and shoot down any torps that we miss."

"All fighters, this is the X.O," Weiss said, as she opened a channel to the fighter group. "Phalanx formation around the planet. Hold station and standby to fire on any torpedoes that make it past the Vale's defensive screen."

The space around the Vale lit up as the dreadnought spewed fire at the incoming torpedoes. Flak cannons, particle blasts, and explosive railgun shells all exploded a ways away from the ship, and, almost the moment the first wave of torpedoes entered the barrage of fire, they exploded as they were struck by the Vale's weapons. Torpedoes exploded in brilliant flashes, even as they started to get closer and closer to entering the planet.

"Vale control, this is Shadow, we're not going to be able to hold them forever," Blake called. "Should we enter the atmosphere and concentrate on any torpedoes that enter near an urban center?"

"Negative," Ruby replied. "Hold your position. I don't want to divide our firepower too much."

"Yes, ma'am," Blake replied.

Ruby watched as more and more torpedoes slowly moved towards the planet, and they disappeared as they entered the wall of fire being spat out of the Vale.

"How much longer can we hold them off?" Ruby asked as the torpedoes slowly managed to crept closer towards the colony.

Weiss looked at the tactical display and tapped several commands. "About... fifteen more minutes, Ruby," she said. "I don't think the colony is going to be evacuated by then."

"Get me the governor," Ruby called.

"Captain, was there something you needed?"

"How much longer until you're done evacuating?" Ruby asked.

"It will still be another half-an-hour or so before the last of the transports can get airborne, why?"

"Because, in about fifteen minutes, the first torpedoes are going to impact!" Ruby yelled, "And if they have anti-matter warheads, you all are going too die!"

"We're working as fast as we can, Captain. Just hold them off."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Comms, keep the line open, but mute our end. Come on, Ruby, we need to focus on the battle."

"Well, to be fair, there's not really a whole lot to focus on," Ruby replied, watching the torpedoes vanish from the display. "We're just sitting here shooting at-"

"Captain! One of the torpedoes got through!" Velvet practically screamed through the communicator.

Ruby watched wide-eyed as the torpedo's image slowly entered the planet's atmosphere in the display. She glanced out of the window, and watched as a brilliant white flash erupted on the planet.

"Captain Rose, what the hell was that?" the governor demanded.

"You need to hurry, governor," Ruby replied quietly. "We're not going to be able to hold them for much longer."

They continued to fight for what felt like hours, watching as still more torpedoes drew ever closer to the planet, until the first barrage finally got through.

"No," Ruby whispered.

She watched in horror as more torpedoes slid through the defensive screen, illuminating the surface of the planet in a brilliant, horrifying white light. In the background, Ruby could hear the screams of the population of the planet as the weapons started to impact.

"Helm, get us out of here," Ruby said, her voice almost silent.

"W-Where to, Captain?" the helmsman replied.

Ruby continued to watch as more explosions illuminated the planet. "Anywhere that's not here."

* * *

**A/N: Hey folks! Sorry it took this long to get this chapter, and that it's shorter than normal. Things have been pretty hectic here for the past little while, but I'm officially settled in here in my dorm, so I should be able to get into a slightly more regular, if unfortunately still slower than previously, rate of updates.**

**Anyway, the war has officially begun! And, suffice to say that the Remnant Navy is not in a good spot right now! Look for more conflict, a massive, desperate final charge, and more Ruby dealing with the stresses of command!**

**As always, thanks for reading! Up next, we have chapter two of Rose of Victory! Check that out if you haven't yet! See you all when that's finished!**


	16. Ch 16: Red Like Roses

**A/N: Legitimate content warning time! This chapter contains some major allusions to self-harm in the first section, so read with caution. Otherwise, enjoy!**

* * *

Weiss paced around the bridge, broadly waiting for her duty shift to end. Eventually, she walked back to the tactical display and watched as the images of the Beacon's fighter patrols wove around the ship. Finally, the next shift of duty officers started to file onto the bridge. After several minutes, Ruby had still not shown up, causing Weiss to feel nervous.

"Is it just me, or has Ruby been showing up later and later for duty?" Weiss said as she continued to watch the tactical display.

"Indeed. Should I call for her?"

"No, I'll do it," Weiss said as she pressed the intercom button and called, "Captain Rose to the bridge, repeat, captain Rose, report to the bridge."

Several minutes passed, but there was still no Ruby to be found. Weiss let out a long sigh as she tapped the intercom button again.

"Captain Rose, please respond on internal line one," she called, only to again receive no response. "I'm going to go down to her quarters to check on her. Get Lieutenant Commander Adel to the bridge and tell her she has the deck."

Weiss turned away from the tactical display and walked towards the exit of the bridge. As she left, she heard the intercom blare, "Lieutenant Commander Adel to the bridge for temporary command duties. Repeat, Lieutenant Commander Adel to the bridge for temporary command duties."

Weiss walked through the corridors until she found her way to an elevator. She pushed the call button and waited for several minutes. As time continued to pass, Weiss started to get more and more worried.

Finally, Weiss tapped a command on the door control and said, "Door override, authorization X.O. Commander Weiss Schnee, code White Rose."

The door hissed open, revealing the captain's quarters. On the bed lay Ruby with blood slowly flowing away from her remaining arm, and dripping slowly from a knife that lay near her cybernetic arm. Weiss slowly realized what had happened and she immediately ran to the nearest intercom and practically slammed the activation button.

"Attention medbay, this is the X.O," Weiss called worriedly, "I need a medical team at the Captain's quarters immediately!"

* * *

Weiss sat nervously outside of the medbay waiting for news about Ruby's condition. Finally, a doctor walked out and waved her over.

"Ma'am," he said.

"How is she?" Weiss asked.

The doctor sighed. "She's awake if you'd like to see her," he said, "and she should be physically fully recovered, aside from her arm and eye, though, given her mental situation, I'd recommend that she be relieved of duty until cleared by the ship's counselor."

Weiss sighed. "I'll tell her," she said as she walked to the doors, which hissed open at her approach. She looked around the room until her eyes found Ruby sitting on one of the beds, gently sobbing into her hands.

"Ruby..." Weiss said as she walked over to her.

"I didn't mean to, Weiss," Ruby sobbed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I just... everything that's happened recently..." Weiss wrapped Ruby in a gentle hug. "I'm sorry."

"Ruby, I'm sorry, but..." Weiss paused to take a breath. "I need to relieve you of command until you're cleared for duty by the ship's counselor."

Ruby nodded as tears continued to flow from her eyes. "I... I understand," she said.

* * *

Ruby sat down across from the counselor. "Captain," the woman said.

Ruby didn't respond.

"I take it you know why you were sent to me?" Ruby nodded. "Well then, I'd like you to tell me what happened."

"I just... I feel worthless," Ruby said meekly. "I let Mountain Glenn be destroyed. I've gotten a number of my own crew killed in combat. I guess I just don't feel like I deserve to be the captain of this ship."

"I disagree with you, Captain Rose," the counselor replied. "You more than deserve to be the Captain of the Vale."

"But why?" Ruby asked. "So many people died at Mountain Glenn..."

"There are many who lived as well."

"Not everybody made it out through."

"But vastly more people survived than did not," the counselor insisted. "Including my own family." Ruby was silent. "If you hadn't responded to the Grimm so effectively, my family would have died. I owe their survival to you. As does more than three-fourths of the colony. So, no, you're not worthless, _Captain_ Rose. Far from it, you're easily one the best Captains I have ever had the honor of serving with."

* * *

_Three months later_

Ruby walked up to the doors of the bridge and waited as they gently hissed open.

"Captain on deck!" one of the marines called.

"Permission to come aboard, Commander?" Ruby asked with a smile.

"Permission granted, Captain," Weiss replied with a salute, "though it's almost time for the Gamma shift to take the ship.

As if on cue, the doors hissed open, and a number of officers walked to various stations around the bridge.

"Well, since we have some time," Weiss said, "there are some... other activities we could use to occupy our time until your next duty shift."

Ruby chuckled. "Sounds like a plan, Commander."

* * *

Ruby strode confidently through the halls of the Vale, despite the alarms blaring in the background. The doors to the bridge gradually grew closer to her with each passing step, until she was suddenly knocked back against the nearby wall by an explosion to her left. Ruby turned to the hull breach, and in the hole, she saw the faces of some of the crew who had fallen on the Vale all giving her a confident salute. Ruby stood up straight and returned the salute, and the images of her crew dissipated.

More explosions rocked the Vale as Ruby continued to the bridge, and, in each hole, more of her crew appeared, saluting her, and each time, Ruby returned the salute. Eventually, Ruby finally made it to the bridge and she saw the same woman as before standing by the tactical display. The Ruby standing at the display turned to face her, once again.

"Did I fail?" the woman asked, a lone tear again falling from her one dull gray eye. "Do I really deserve to still be a Captain?"

"No, I didn't fail," Ruby said with a new found confidence as she looked down at her own cybernetic limb. "And, even if I don't deserve to be a Captain, I can still do a lot of good here, so I won't give up yet."

"But all of the people who died..." Dream Ruby said

"Died knowing that their sacrifice meant that someone else wouldn't need to make the same," she finished. "I am Captain Rose, the Vale is my command, and I will hold the line against the darkness."

* * *

**A/N: There we go! Sorry for the long wait for such a short chapter. I've just been really busy, and I kinda wanted to get something out for you guys to tide you over for a little while. Anyway, this story is starting to wind down to a close here, believe it or not. I've really only got between two to four chapters left, plus an epilogue so look forward to those. Anyway, thanks for reading folks! Up next, chapter three off Rose of Victory! I'll see you all then!**


	17. Ch 17: Back in Action

Ruby leaned against the tactical display and looked out of the bridge's large, panoramic window. All around the Vale, fighters maneuvered in deft patterns, keeping a constant vigil around the mighty warship.

"Captain," Ruby heard behind her as the bridge doors hissed open.

"Hey Weiss," Ruby said as she turned around.

"All quiet out there?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah," Ruby said. "Doesn't look like the Grimm are interested in this system."

"Perhaps," Weiss said, going to enter her pass code into the tactical display to begin her duty shift, until Ruby stopped her. "What is it?" she asked.

"Since you've been taking double duty for the past several months, I think you should get a little time off, Weiss," Ruby said, giving her X.O. a smile.

"Are you sure?" Weiss asked. "Because I really don't mind-"

"I'm sure, Weiss," Ruby said, continuing to smile. "Here, let me make it official: Commander Schnee, as Captain of this boat, I hereby relieve you of all duties, up to and including a call to general quarters for the next two weeks, as a reward for you dedication to duty in my absence. There, now you can't argue with me."

"Fine," Weiss replied, giving a slightly annoyed salute, despite her smile. "I guess I'll be in my quarters if you need me."

"Good," Ruby stated. "Get some sleep. That's an order," she finished with a wink.

Suddenly, the space outside the window illuminated with a bright flash, and alarms started to blare throughout the bridge.

"Captain, Grimm forces detected at the edge of the planetary system!" The sensors officer yelled.

Weiss practically shot over to the tactical display. "What do you need me to do?" she asked.

"Already told you," Ruby replied, going to activate the intercom as her mind went into overdrive preparing for the battle she knew was coming, "You're completely off duty. Just make sure to not interfere in combat operations."

"Are you-"

"Yes, I'm sure Weiss." Ruby pressed the intercom button. "Attention on all decks this is the Captain speaking, all hands to battle stations, all hands to battle stations. This is not a drill I repeat, this is not a drill. Attention on the flight deck, launch all available units. If it can fly, I want it in the air. Comms, get me Admiral Qrow."

Ruby's uncle appeared in the corner of the tactical display. "Admiral Qrow, go- Ruby, what do you need?"

"Can you get some reinforcements here?" Ruby asked. "A Grimm fleet has moved into the sector, and it looks like they're getting ready to launch a long range bombardment of the planet."

Qrow sighed. "I only have a wing of heavy bombers available right now, but I'll go ahead and deploy them. If anything else frees up, I'll send it your way. Good luck, Ruby."

There was a series of small flashes near the Vale as the wave of bombers jumped in. "Captain Rose, this Lieutenant Commander Arslan Altan with the 33rd Auburn wing," the squadron leader called. "We are ready to engage."

Ruby thought for a moment before an idea popped into her head. "All fighter wings, form a defensive perimeter around the side of the planet facing the Grimm," she called. "All bombers, launch your torpedoes at the Grimm fleet and then fill any gaps left by the fighters. All strike craft, intercept any hostile torpedoes that approach the planet."

The bridge echoed with a chorus of "aye, ma'am's," and the images of the fighters and bombers on the tactical display shifted around as they responded to her orders.

"Helm, stand by for jump on my mark," Ruby called.

"Ma'am?" the helmsman said. "What about the planet? Not to mention our fighters-"

"Trust me," Ruby said. "Sending coordinates now."

Ruby tapped a string of numbers into the console on the edge of the tactical display table and waited as as she watched the fighters and bombers move into position around the planet on the tactical display. Finally, when they were all in position, Ruby looked over to where the helm officer was sitting

"Jump!" she called, and the space outside of the Vale flashed briefly, and, when the tactical display cleared, the ship was surrounded by Grimm warships.

"All batteries," Ruby said. "Fire at will!"

Electric-blue bursts sped away from the Vale's particle cannons, and massive caliber shells streaked away from the railguns. Each shot slammed directly into the hulls of the Grimm warships. tearing panels off of the cruel-looking black-and-white vessels.

_Do they not have shields?_ Ruby thought as each round from the Vale found its mark. Ruby watched as her ship tore a Grimm torpedo cruiser apart before it had the chance to turn to face the Vale. _I guess not. Not to mention the fact that a cruiser, even a bombardment cruiser, should be able to take more fire than that, even without shields_.

"Weapons, target the remaining Grimm torpedo ships," Ruby called. "See if we can't take a little bit of pressure off of our fighters."

"Aye, ma'am, sending target data," the officer called.

The ship's weapons turned to face the Grimm torpedo cruisers and spat fire at the ships. Hull panels spiraled away from the Grimm as the first barrages of fire tore through the torpedo cruisers, and the ships quickly fell apart before exploding violently as several stray shots from the Vale hit their ammunition storage.

"Status," Ruby called. "Did any of the torpedoes make it through the fighter screen?"

"Negative, Captain," the sensors officer replied. "All torpedoes intercepted successfully."

Ruby nodded. "All strike craft, this is Captain Rose, break perimeter and engage the Grimm fleet, repeat, break and attack the Grimm."

The fighters engines flared and they sped to approach the Grimm fleet. Ruby walked away from the tactical display and over to the window, watching as weapons fire slammed into the Vale's shields. As they began to take more and more damage from the increasingly accurate fire from the Grimm ships, the Val's shields started to flicker, coating the ship in a strobing blue glow.

"Captain, shields are down to twenty-percent!" one of the bridge officers yelled.

Ruby sighed. _Well, at least I managed to by the planet some time_, she thought. "All batteries, keep firing," Ruby called. "If we're going to go doown, we might as well go down fighting."

Just as she finished giving her order, however, a series of bright flashes surrounded the Vale, and a huge fleet appeared seemingly from nowhere.

"Captain Rose, this is Admiral Qrow," Ruby's uncle called over the ships intercom. "I heard you needed some support. All first fleet ships, engage. Take those Grimm warships down."

Admiral Qrow's fleet tore through the Grimm ships, destroying them before they had the chance to damage Ruby's ship. The Grimm ships exploded as the barrage of particle cannon and railgun shots tore through them, and, after several brief minutes, the few remaining Grimm warships quickly jumped away, abandoning the battle.

"Thanks, Uncle," Ruby said, giving a smile to the image of her uncle in the tactical display. "I thought you said you didn't have any ships available, though?"

"There was a small Grimm fleet in the Forever Fall sector," Qrow replied. "Only about forty warships or so. We dealt with them and immediately jumped here. Are you doing alright Ruby?"

"Yeah," Ruby said. "Shields are back up to about fifteen percent now, so they should be back to full soon."

"Good to hear," Qrow replied. "now, I don't suppose I can pull you off the front to take me to the capital of the Terran Imperium? Fleet Admiral Williams and I might have a way to end this war once and for all."

* * *

**A/N: There you go! Sorry about the short length, but there's really not much more I think I could add here. Looking back on it, I probably could have combined both this chapter and the last one, but there's not really much I can do about it now. Live and learn, I guess.**

**Anyway, 300 follows! You guys rock! And shoutout to Lord Erethar for being number 300!**

**As always folks, thanks for reading! You guys are really awesome! Up next, chapter four of The Rose of Victory. I'll see you all then!**


	18. Ch 18: The Beginning of the End

"Admiral on deck!" one of the Vale's marines called as the door to the bridge hissed open behind Ruby

She turned and saluted, smiling as she saw her uncle.

"Permission to come aboard, Captain?" Qrow replied as he returned the salute.

"Permission granted, sir," Ruby replied as she made room for him at the tactical display.

"So, how are you doing," Qrow asked as he walked up next to Ruby.

"Oh, alright," Ruby replied. "Despite the fact that this job has practically cost me an arm and a leg."

Ruby's uncle sighed. "You're almost as bad as your sister," he muttered.

Ruby simply replied by grinning, before turning to her helm's officer. "Helm stand by for jump."

"Aye, ma'am, phase drive standing by for coordinates."

"Where to, Uncle?" Ruby asked.

"Take us to Earth," Admiral Qrow said.

The officer glanced at Qrow, as though expecting the order to be cancelled. "Aye, sir, commencing jump."

The window flashed briefly, and the blank space was quickly replaced by a blue-green orb that was surrounded by a massive, white ring.

"Woah, what's that?" Ruby asked, staring at the object surrounding the planet.

"The Earth Torus Defensive Battlestation and Dockyard," Qrow said. "Though referring to it as just 'Torus' is more common. The single most ambitious project ever attempted by either of our two factions. Surrounds the entire planet, and provides it with both heavy defensive weaponry and a planetary shield that is all but impossible to crack."

"How did they build that?"

Admiral Qrow shrugged. "We're not sure, to be honest," he replied. "It's not like it was just built over night, but they managed to build the thing without us finding out how they managed to gather enough resources as well as deveop the necessary technology to put somehting of that scale into space."

"Attention, R.F.S. Vale, this is Torus station section alpha control, come in, over?" the intercom blared.

"This is Captain Rose of the Vale, go ahead," Ruby replied.

"Roger that, Vale," the controller replied. "Fleet Admiral Williams has cleared you to dock with the station. Divert to dock seventeen and stand by to receive docking vector."

"Confirmed," Ruby replied, before turning to her helm officer. "Helm, bring us to dock seventeen and hold position."

"Aye, aye."

The R.F.S. Vale turned ponderously as it moved to face the docks of the station, and its main engines flared a brilliant blue as they slowly pushed the ship up to speed. The ship arrived outside the dockyard, and the main engines dimmed down, and the maneuvering thrusters on the front of the ship flared, slowly stopping the ship.

"Torus section alpha, this is Captain Rose," Ruby called. "We are standing by for docking vector."

"Vector sent, Captain," the controller replied. "You're cleared all the way in, and Fleet Admiral Williams will meet you at the dock. Torus section alpha, out."

* * *

"Admiral Qrow, Captain Rose, Commander Schnee," Admiral Williams said as the three Remnant naval officers stepped through the airlock and into the station. "Welcome aboard the Earth Torus."

"Thanks for having us," Qrow replied.

"You should consider yourselves lucky," Williams said as he led them through the bustling metropolis of a space station. "Not many people from the Remnant Federation have had the opportunity to see this much of the Torus."

"You are rather secretive of this thing," Qrow stated, looking around.

"And you're not secretive of the shipyards in the Shadow of Light sector?" Williams stated, glancing back as they walked. "Those twin blue giants must be putting out a lot of radiation, after all."

"Fair point," Qrow replied as the group entered an elevator.

"Naval Command Center," Admiral Williams called, and the elevator shuddered as it moved away.

All four remained silent until the elevator finally stopped and the doors hissed open.

"Welcome to the United Space Command Navy's nerve center," Admiral Williams said as he led the other three officers into a room that was filled with screen, holograms, and people jogging around, handing off reports to their fellow officers. "Every single bit of data in the Navy runs through here to be passed along to the senior officers of the fleet. If anything happens in the Terran Imperium, it'll come though here moments after it occurs."

"Impressive," Qrow replied.

The four officers walked over to a large hologram in the middle of the room.

"Torus, pull up the data from the Wraith," Admiral Williams called.

"Aye, sir," the station's AI replied. "Data coming up now."

The image shifted, transforming into the shape of the artifact that had served as the beginning of the war they now fought.

"Several weeks ago, I sent the U.S.C. Wraith, one of our stealth-recon ships to the artifact that started this whole conflict," Admiral Williams stated. "What they found was... worrying, to say the least."

"How did they get through all of those ships?" Ruby asked.

"The ship has a unique stealth drive and cloaking system," Admiral Williams replied. "Virtually undetectable. The ship jumped into the sector, and found this."

The image shifted, showing a video of the artifact. The central ring of the object was filled with a water-like substance, and new Grimm warships were constantly passing through.

"It's a gate," Ruby said, staring.

Admiral Williams nodded. "At the rate they're coming through, our analysts give us at most a year before we are completely overrun by the Grimm."

"A year?" Ruby asked, clearly haunted.

"That's the best case scenario," Admiral Williams stated as he manipulated the display. "This is our most realistic guess of what will happen in the next two months."

The image shifted, shoing an image of the entire galaxy. There was a small speck of blue, and one of read, but the rest was completely black.

"The blue represents territory controlled by the Terran Imperium," Admiral Williams stated. "Red is the Remnant Federation, and anywhere displayed in black is overrun by the Grimm."

"That's almost the entire galaxy," Weiss said. "How is that possible?"

"Their forces are growing exponentially," Admiral Williams stated. "For now, they already have a slight numerical advantage over us, but, on a purely ship-for-ship basis, we are so vastly superior that we can more than make up for the numerical disparity. However, when we start facing the numbers that the Grimm have, ship-for-ship won't matter, given the sheer volume of Grimm ships overall."

"How can you be sure that the Grimm are going to be able to receive a constant stream of reinforcements?" Weiss asked.

"This is from when the Wraith went through the gate," Admiral Williams said as he manipulated the display.

When he was finished, the hologram showed a gate just like the one that had started all of their troubles, only this one appeared to be smaller, and was surrounded by a mass of red.

"You see that red blob?" Admiral Williams stated, "Those are all Grimm warships. For reference, the gate is actually the same size there as it is here."

"Where is that, exactly?" Ruby asked.

"Best guess puts it at the Andromeda galaxy. Consequentially, given that the Grimm use F.T.L. drives, which aren't capable of near-instant travel, regardless of distance, the Grimm would need multiple millennia to get here again, if they even come here. To that end, I propose that we end the war with a single, massive strike," Admiral Williams said. "I propose that we both commit half of our naval forces to this strike in an effort to end this war as soon as possible."

"Half of our forces?" Qrow said. "That's insane! We'll be leaving our own worlds virtually undefended!"

"The Terran Imperium can afford to commit to a strike like this, at least for a little while," Admiral Williams said. "Our fortress worlds should be able to hold off the enemy for however long the battle lasts. If need be, I can commit additional forces to help aid in the defense of your borders."

"If I may, sir?" Weiss said to Qrow, who nodded. "Admiral Williams is right. We need to commit as many forces to ending this war as quickly. We can't win a war of attrition. If we don't end it quickly, If we lose the battle, the end result of the war will have little change from what the end will currently be, and if we win, then the war will be over."

"I'm in agrement with my X.O," Ruby said with a nod and smile to her X.O. "We don't have a chance in a protracted war with the Grimm. If we end the war here, we don't have to worry about it."

"Well, I guess we don't have a choice then," Qrow said, shaking his head. "Alright, Williams, what's your plan of attack?"

"I was actually hoping you might have an idea for that," Admiral Williams said.

Qrow opened his mouth, but Ruby interrupted before he could speak up. "What about a three wave attack?" she said. "One fleet, mostly Dreadnoughts, Battleships, and other heavy combat ships engage first, then, when the Grimm fleet is engaged with the first task force, the second group, which is mostly fast attack ships like destroyers, come in next and attack the fleet from the flank. Then, when the Grimm are entangled with the first two fleets, the third group comes in and attacks the gateway to prevent any Grimm fleet reinforcements."

"That could work," Weiss said. "We just need the fleet to hold the Grimm off long enough long enough for the forces attacking the gate to bring it down."

"I think that will work," Admiral Williams replied, before turning to Ruby. "Captain Rose, given that this is you idea, I believe that you and the Vale should have the honor of leading the first wave. Admiral Qrow, you should take the second wave, and I'll take over the third wave. Anything else come to mind?"

"If the battle starts to swing in the Grimm's favor, should we just retreat, or do we keep fighting?" Qrow asked.

"There will be no retreat from this," Admiral Williams stated. "The sheer amount of background radiation coming from the gate will completely disrupt our Phase Drives, and, even if they do work, the disruption will likely throw us so far off target that we might as well be dead. Anything else?"

"No, I guess that will have to do for now," Qrow replied, sighing. "How soon do you want to do this thing?"

"One week," Admiral Williams replied. "That way we have enough time to gather the fleet, while still allowing use to attack while they're still weak."

"Very well," Admiral Qrow replied. "I'll send out the order to gather my forces. I hope this works, Lucas."

* * *

**A/N: There's chapter 18, and we're almost to the end! It's been seriously awesome folks! You guys really are what's kept me writing this thing.**

**At any rate, those who also read The Path We Walk have have already heard this, but I have a top secret, classified project that is currently being worked on. Can't reveal anything about it yet, but I think it's going to be awesome, so keep an eye out for more details!**

**As always, thanks for reading everyone, and just generally being an awesome audience! Up next it chapter 5 of Rose of Victory, so stay tuned for that. I'll hopefully get it written fairly soon**


	19. Ch 19: The Calm Before the Storm

"Quite a fleet, huh?" Ruby asked as Weiss walked up next to her on the bridge of the Vale.

"Largest in Remnant's history," Weiss acknowledged. "Bigger than the fleet gathered for the battle of Terra Nova in the war with the Terran Imperium."

"Well, it helps that they're on our side this time," Ruby said as she took a brief glance at her X.O.

"True," Weiss replied with a nod. "Though, I believe that it's bigger even without their forces."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Ruby replied.

"Captain," the communication's officer called. "Incoming transmission from Fleet Admiral Williams and Admiral Qrow."

Ruby turned towards the tactical display and walked over. "Put it through," she called.

"Hey there Ruby," Admiral Qrow said with a nod as he appeared in the holographic display.

"Good to see you again uncle," Ruby replied with a smile. "What can I do for you?"

"Admiral Williams and I were just talking," he replied. "And we had an idea for you."

"We want you to lead the first wave of ships," Admiral Williams said.

Ruby stood there for a moment. "You want me to what?"

"We believe that, since you're the one who came up with the plan, you should be the one who has the honor of leading the charge," Admiral Williams said. "It puts you at greater risk, I'm aware, but-"

"I'll do it," Ruby interrupted with a determined gleam to her eye.

"Are you sure?"

Ruby nodded. "I'll do it," she repeated, standing up confidently. "The Vale can and lead the attack."

"Very well, then," Admiral Williams said. "Qrow? If you wouldn't mind?"

Ruby's uncle nodded "Captain Rose, you are hereby elevated to the temporary rank of Fleet Captain. All ships assigned to Sword fleet fall ultimately to your authority, regardless of rank of the individual ship's commanding officer. I will take command of Dagger fleet, and Fleet Admiral Williams will lead Hammer fleet. Good luck, kiddo."

"Thanks, Uncle," Ruby replied, giving a salute.

The holographic images of Admiral Qrow and Admiral Williams disappeared, and Ruby leaned against the edge of the tactical display table, sighing slightly as she crossing her arms and closing her eye.

"You okay, Ruby?" Weiss asked, placing a hand on her captain's shoulder.

"Yeah," Ruby replied. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just... It's kinda weird, is all."

"I'm sure," Weiss replied, giving Ruby a smile. "But I'd be willing to bet the entire Schnee Aerospace fortune that you'll be more than capable of doing it."

Ruby stood and gave Weiss a smile. "Thanks," she replied as she hugged the other officer. "That really means a lot."

"So, you going to get out of my way so I can get started with my duty shift?" Weiss asked.

"Sure," Ruby replied with a snicker as she stepped out of Weiss way.

"Took you long enough."

Ruby stood there for a moment. "Hey, Weiss?" Ruby asked. "When you're done with your shift, would you mind meeting me in my quarters?"

"Sure," Weiss replied with a nod. "I'll be there in a few hours."

* * *

Ruby heard the doorbell for her quarters chime.

"It's open," she called, and the door hissed open, revealing Weiss standing in the doorway.

"You asked to see me, ma'am?" she asked, flashing a brief salute.

"Come on, Weiss," Ruby replied, rolling her eye with a smile. "I told you we weren't doing that anymore."

"Last time it was rather fun though," Weiss replied with a snicker.

"Yeah, it was, but it also almost got me reported for 'improper use of authority,'" Ruby replied.

"We really did dodge a bullet there."

"Shame I couldn't dodge one when I got these," Ruby stated with a snicker as she held up her cybernetic arm and pointed to her eyepatch.

"You are absolutely insufferable," Weiss said, rolling her eyes.

"Would you have me any other way?" Ruby asked, kissing Weiss' cheek.

"Fair enough," Weiss replied with a chuckle. "I love you Ruby."

"I love you too Weiss."

"So, what did you need, Ruby?" Weiss asked as she sat down on the bed.

"Well, I figured since we're probably not going to survive tomorrow-" Ruby started.

"Ruby," Weiss interrupted, "we aren't going to lost the battle tomorrow. We have the largest fleet ever assembled in the history of the Remnant Federation. Our warships are the most technologically advanced warships ever, and we have the best tacticians ever. We are _going_ to win tomorrow."

"Weiss, we're going to be outnumbered more than four-to-one when we jump in and about five-to-one by the time Hammer fleet arrives to hit the gate," Ruby insisted. "Chances are we'll be dead by the. And, even then, we're not going to be able to retreat due to the background radiation. Besides, that's not what I'm getting at."

"Okay? What is it?" Weiss asked.

Ruby sighed. "Well, since we're not going to make it tomorrow, I want to die a married woman." Ruby knelt down before Weiss. "Commander Weiss Schnee, will you marry me?"

"R... Really?" Weiss stammered.

Ruby nodded. "I love you, Weiss," Ruby continued. "You've done so much for both me and the crew of the Vale. Why wouldn't I want to marry you?"

"Umm... I... You know what, yes," Weiss said. "Yes, I will marry you, Captain Ruby Rose."

"Oh, well... Uh... Okay then," Ruby said. "So, what now?"

Weiss pulled Ruby in close and gave her a passionate kiss. "I think you know what happens next," she whispered into Ruby's ear.

Ruby chuckled slightly as she and her future wife fell onto the bed.

* * *

"Captain on deck!" One of the marines shouted.

"At ease," Ruby said as she and Weiss walked over to the tactical display. "Comms, report on all Sword fleet ships?"

"All Sword fleet ships report ready for action, ma'am," the officer replied.

Ruby replied with a nod.

"How much longer until the fleet is ready to deploy?"

"About five more minutes," the officer replied. "The Admiral of the Terran fleet was just about to address the fleet."

"Put him on."

"Attention all ships, this is Fleet Admiral Williams, commanding officer of the United Space Command navy and flag officer of Hammer fleet," the Admiral's voice called through the intercom. "In approximately five minutes, the first elements of our armada will jump to engage the Grimm forces. We are going to be looking at the toughest fight in either of our histories, with us being outnumbered as much as five-to-one by the time the entire fleet engages, so we all need to be at our best here."

"This is going to be a desperate fight," he continued. "It is our only chance to end this war before it becomes simply unwinnable. The fact is, we need to make this attack. We need to win this. We _will_ win this. We will stand fast and stand strong. You've all seen the beginnings of what will happen if we don't win, with incidents like the Remnant colony Mountain Glenn and the Terran colony of Vesper Seven."

"This war has only lasted for a few months," the Admiral called, his voice ringinging through the intercom. "And in that time, the Terran outer conolies have completely fallen, and out fortress worlds have come under virtually constant seige. The Remnant Federation is fighting across its entire border losing more ships and crew by the day. These 'Grimm' have cost us much in the way of resources, funds, and even lives. Now, it's time for us to strike, and drive them back through their gate. Cannon to the left of them, cannon to the right of them, volly'd and thunder'd."

"Boldly they rode, and well," Admiral Williams finished. "Into the jaws of death, into the mouth of hell, rode the six-hundred. All ships, sound general quarters and stand by."

"General quarters, Ruby?" Weiss asked as the bridge crew all broke out into applause.

Ruby nodded. "Sword fleet, prepare to jump," she called as the ship's alarms blared around her. "On my mark... Jump!"

* * *

**A/N: There's chapter 19 folks. Sorry it's been such a long wait for such a short chapter (been really busy thanks to the holidays and finals). Anyway, we've only got one or two more chapters (depending on length), plus an epilogue., so this thing is about to an end. It's really been a heck of a ride folks, and you all have been a great audience.**

**Speaking of a great audience, 200 favorites! Huge shoutout to ****SecretlySilentEvil for pushing this ting over the barrier!**

**Also, before I head out, I'd like recommend you go check out an author here who goes by Phoenix Commander. he is a really talented writer, and I think you guys would like his stories as well, so go check him out!**

**As always folks, thanks for reading everyone! Up next is the last chapter of Rose of Victory, so stay tuned for that. Everyone have a safe holiday, and I'll see you all next time!**


	20. Ch 20: Into the Breach

"Sword fleet, prepare to jump," Ruby called as the ship's alarms blared around her. "On my mark... Jump!"

With a flash, the Vale disappeared from space, followed closely by a series of hundreds upon hundreds of flashes as the rest of Ruby's fleet jumped. When the window on the bridge cleared, the stars were almost completely enshrouded by the black, red, and white warships of the Grimm. Behind them was the same massive series of bone-white rings, only now the red trimming glowed eerily, giving it an even more haunting appearance. Within the central ring was a, grey, rippling, almost water-like substance, and it was from there that hundreds more Grimm ships were continuously pouring through.

"This is it," Ruby muttered. "All ships, launch fighters and stand by."

Weiss tapped the intercom button on the display. "Attention on the flight deck, this is the X.O., scramble all units, repeat, scramble all units."

Dozens of tiny shapes darted away from the ships as their launch tubes spat out fighters. The hundreds of small yet deadly craft all gathered into chevrons and flew out to the front of the massive fleet before quickly coming to a halt and waiting.

"All ships, ready main batteries," Ruby called.

Weiss tapped the intercom again. "All railgun turrets, select target and fire on the Fleet-Captain's command."

The Vale's railgun turrets silently spun on their axis to face the Grimm armada, and the magnetic rails started to glow a brilliant blue as they charged to launch their deadly projectiles. All around the Vale, the other Remnant ships started to do the same, as their most powerful weapons started to come to bare on the Grimm. The Terran Imperium warships, by contrast, started to ready their own main guns, their large particle beam cannon turrets started to illuminate a dim red color.

"All guns ready to fire, Ruby," Weiss said to her future wife.

Ruby nodded. "For it is in passing we achieve immortality," she called, closing her eye. "Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all else. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee." Ruby let out a short breath before opening her eye again. "Fire!"

The Vale rumbled to life with as its weapons silently spat death towards the Grimm fleet. The railgun shells sped across the stars with speeds that would be impossible to measure by normal means and slammed into their targets, tearing holes clean through the unshielded Grimm vessels and detonating with fiery explosions within. All around the Vale, the Terran and Remnant ships followed suit, as the Remnant fleet's railguns blasted the Grimm apart, and the Terran's particle beams tunneled through their hulls.

"All fighters, standby to engage on my mark," Ruby called as the barrage continued.

"All squadrons are standing by for your orders, cap," Coco called.

Ruby nodded. "Engage. Target bombers first, then start harassing their bigger ships."

"Aye, aye," Coco replied. "Come on, let's go show the Grimm a thing or two about how we fight."

The fighters' engines flared blue, and the sped off into the night towards the Grimm. Barrages of laser, plasma, autocannon, and particle gun fire surged into the night sky and slammed into their targets, causing the Grimm fighters to erupt in flames as they were torn apart by the deadly combination of energy and ballistic weaponry.

Coco's fighter rolled as Grimm and allied weapons flashed past her canopy, illuminating it with a bright flare of color. She gritted her teeth as she continued to squeeze the trigger on her stick, sending a barrage from her wing-mounted gatling cannons into a Grimm fighter that was directly in front of her. She grinned slightly as her fighter pushed through the explosion, appearing on the other side of the Grimm formation.

"Fighter wings one through ten, form on my wing! We're going in!" Coco called.

Coco's engines flared again as she and nearly half of the fighters in the first wave of warships surged towards the Grimm fleet. As she approached the Grimm capital ships, a massive barrage of flak started to illuminate the night sky, giving the appearance of an infinitely more deadly fireworks display ash she and her comrades continued to press forward. Suddenly, Coco's fighter was rocked by an explosion, causing her to wince slightly as her shields flared a brilliant Cherenkov, absorbing the blow.

"Damn," she muttered. "There's too much flak! All wings, take evasive action and try to get underneath their defenses!"

Coco spun her fighter and started to weave between the flak fire. Explosions sprayed debris from the combination of other fighters and the shells from themselves. Coco's shields continued to glow and shimmer as they withstood the barrage of fire thrown at them. Her head swung all over as she watched the detonations light up the space around her, when suddenly, as quickly as they started the explosions disappeared, leaving her remaining fighters directly in front of the continuously exploding Grimm ships.

"Any units left, move in!" Coco yelled. "Let's take them down!"

"Inferno, here," Yang replied. "Copy that! Yellow squadron, let's tear these fuckers apart!"

Coco forced her fighter's throttle as far forwards as it would go, and sped towards the Grimm fleet, watching carefully to avoid the capital grade weapons that were flying past her fighter. She grinned slightly as she selected a Grimm battleship as her target and sped in to attack it. She felt her fighter start to vibrate as her gatling cannons started to spin up. With a grin, she pulled the trigger on her stick, sending a barrage of gunfire at the ship, sending sparks flying into the night as the first round impacted.

She quickly rotated her fighter to the side as she started to fly past the ship, continuing her barrage, starting to tear into the Grimm's warship and exposing a thin line of the halls to the cold vacuum of space. Several of the creatures of Grimm started to flow out of the holes left by the veritable wall of bullets, slowly dissolving as they died to exposure. Suddenly, the ship was engulfed in a flood of orange as a salvo of railgun shots tore into the ship's hull ripping it apart in a blaze brighter than a star.

"Attention all ships, this is Fleet-Captain Rose," Ruby called. "Standby for orders."

Weiss looked at the tactical display as the images of different ships started to flash as they signaled that they were ready. "All ships report ready," she said as the last one started to flash.

Ruby nodded. "All right. This is it everyone. Helm, all forward! All ships, this is Fleet-Captain Rose, engage all hostiles in close quarters. Let's give them everything we've got!"

The Vale's engines flashed and started to glow a pale blue, pushing the mighty dreadnought forward towards the Grimm, followed closely by the rest of Sword fleet. The mighty ships surrounded themselves with a wall of flak, exploding any Grimm fighters, bombers, torpedoes, and missiles that approached too close to the ships. Railgun, particle beam, autocannon, particle gun, and laser cannon blasts surged from the fleet, tearing through the mighty Grimm warships as each shot found its mark. The Sword fleet cut through the flak fire with little trouble, completely shrugging off all of the small pecks on the ship's shields, even as the larger cannons started to make the fleet's shields flare up under the withering barrage of fire.

Ruby turned to Weiss as her fleet entered the middle of the Grimm armada. "Weiss, can you open a channel to Admiral Qrow?"

"One second," Weiss stated, tapping several controls on the edge of the display. "There, channel is open. I'm not sure how long it will last, however."

* * *

"Admiral," an officer yelled from Qrow's left, "Incoming transmission from the R.F.S. Vale. Signal's weak, so I'm not sure how long we'll be able to hold it."

"Put it through," he replied. The image of his younger niece appeared in the hologram of the tactical display.

"Hey, Uncle Qrow," Ruby said, her voice distorted by the poor quality of the transmission.

"Ruby," he replied.

"So, I think we're about ready for you, whenever you can get here," Ruby replied, as the image started to become more and more distorted.

"Alright, we'll be there soon," Qrow replied, just before the transmission cut out. He then turned to his communications officer. "Open a channel to Dagger fleet."

"Channel open, sir," the officer replied.

Qrow nodded. "All ships, this is Admiral Qrow Branwen, stand by to jump on my mark. Chances are we're going to be under attack from the moment we jump in, so get your fighters into their tubes, and get your guns ready to fire. All ships, report in when ready."

The images of Dagger fleet started to flash as they readied for jump. Qrow stood there as the transmissions slowly faded into the background. _This is it, isn't it?_ he thought. _All these years, and this is how you go out_.

"All ships report ready, sir," Commander Violette called.

Qrow nodded. "Then let's get it over with. All ships, jump."

The staging area was lit up by hundreds of flashes as Dagger fleet disappeared into the night. They reappeared in the middle of an already heated battle.

"All ships, this is Admiral Qrow Branwen," he called. "Engage!"

Qrow's destroyer sped forward, spitting railgun shells and particle bursts towards the Grimm, tearing into a pair of battleships. The smaller warship elegantly wove through space, firing shots in all directions as the Grimm attempted to return fire, only to be foiled by the surprising nimbleness of the small warship.

Dagger fleet drove into the side of the Grimm, cutting through them by the dozen, annihilating ships with concentrated salvos of fire. Despite the stiff resistance offered by the Grimm, the combination of Terran and Remnant warships was somehow managing to hold back the tide, despite the overwhelming numbers of Grimm. The mass of ships tore into each other, neither giving an inch.

"Open a channel to Admiral Williams," Qrow called over the shouting of crew members calling out the ships status as it received and dealt damage.

"Channel open, sir, but the link is unstable," the communications officer called. "Recommend you be brief."

Qrow nodded as he turned towards the distorted image of Admiral Williams in the center of the tactical display.

* * *

"Admiral," Qrow said as his face appeared in the center of the Athena's massive strategic display.

"Go ahead Qrow," Admiral Williams replied nodding.

"We've got the Grimm distracted. It's now or never, Williams," Qrow replied, as the image started to stutter.

"Very well," the young Admiral replied, closing the channel. "Comms, open a channel to the rest of Hammer fleet."

"Channel open, sir," the officer replied.

"Attention all Hammer fleet ships, make preparations to jump, and listen closely," Admiral Williams called. "We are the one chance to win this battle. The rest of our warships are already engaging the Grimm in close quarters and can't take the gate down, so it's up to us. As soon as we jump in, target everything you have on the gate. Particle beam arrays, autocannons, torpedoes, I don't care what it is, I want it firing. Hammer fleet, on my mark... _Jump!_"

The last of the ships in the staging area flashed away, leaving only the inky blackness of space in their wake. The fleet reappeared right in front of the gate with a series of brilliant flashes. Turrets rotated to face the imposing structure, and the ships' torpedo tubes opened, revealing their deadly ordinance.

"All ships stand by," Admiral Williams called. "Ready... _Fire!_"

Ruby-red beams lanced out from the Athena's particle beam cannons, barrages of small cannon shots spat from the ships autocannons, railgun shells streaked away from their cannons, and torpedoes slid out of their tubes. All around the Athena, the rest of Hammer fleet followed the Terran Dreadnought's lead, spitting energy and ballistic shots at the structure.

The Terran and Remnant combined forces spat death at the Gate, and what appeared to be a shield started to light up with a deep, blood-red color as the weapons struck it. Ruby watched from the Vale's bridge as shots repeatedly slammed into the gate's shield, giving everything caught by the light an evil red glow. Each strike seemed to only push the Grimm farther, as their forces fought harder and increased in number with each minute that passed.

"Weiss," Ruby called, turning away from the window, "give me a read out on the gate."

"Read out open, Ruby," Weiss replied as an image appeared in a corner of the holographic display.

Ruby studied the display, watching as the shields fluctuated with each hit they suffered. "Compare the shield strength now with the beginning of the fight," she said.

"Comparison open."

A line graph appeared, showing a number of peaks and valleys, all within extremely close proximity of each other.

"That's impossible," Ruby muttered. "According to this, the gates shields are the same strength they were at the beginning of the fight."

Suddenly, the fleet attacking the gate stopped their attack and started to turn to face the Grimm fleet.

"Attention all ships, this is Fleet Admiral Williams in command of Hammer fleet," the Terran's voice blared through the intercom. "We are unable to damage the gateway, repeat we have no ability to damage the gate."

* * *

**A/N: Cliffhanger, hanging from a cliff! One more chapter, and then the epilogue, and then we're done here! I will say this chapter has definitely been an improvement in terms of quality over the previous few, but oh well. Anyway, once we're done here, I'll be going back down to two consecutive fics, and I'll start on my next one once either Path or Rose Guardian finishes, and I'll post a poll about which I should start next when one of those two starts to draw to a close.**

**Anyway, speaking of Rose Guardian, the next chapter of that should be hopefully be coming up soon! I'll be seeing you all when that comes out! stay classy until then , folks!**


	21. Ch 21: Heavens Gate

_Theirs not to make reply,_

_Theirs not to reason why,_

_Theirs but to do and die_

_Into the valley of Death_

_Rode the six hundred_

* * *

"Attention all ships, this is Fleet Admiral Williams in command of Hammer fleet," the Terran's voice blared through the intercom. "We are unable to damage the gateway, repeat we have no ability to damage the gate."

Ruby felt a knot tie in her gut as the ships of Hammer fleet turned and began their ponderous advance towards the bulk of the fighting.

"Admiral Williams," Ruby called. "If we can't destroy the gate, what do we do?"

"We fight to our death," the Terran replied. "There's nothing else we can do. We can't retreat, because the radiation coming from that gate is scrambling our jump computers, and we're not going to be able to defeat them since they don't seem to have any limit to their numbers. So we just have to keep fighting until we all go down."

Ruby stood there as the noises from the ship's communicator faded into the background. She watched as all around them, ships both friend and foe exploded as they were torn apart in the largest battle in the history of the Remnant Federation.

"There has to be some way for us to win, though," Ruby muttered to herself. "It can't just end like this."

"Not every story has a happy ending, Ruby," Weiss replied as she walked up next to the young Captain. "I guess this is just one of those times."

"Still, though," Ruby replied, turning to face the woman who, in another universe, she might have been marrying right now, "All of that work, all of our planning, and we just have to die here?"

Weiss nodded. "Looks that way."

Ruby kicked the tactical display in frustration. "This isn't fair!" She yelled. "Why can't we just win this? Why do we need to die?"

"Sometimes our fate is unavoidable," Weiss replied. "Do you believe in destiny?" Ruby cocked her head slightly. "Well, sometimes, it's our destiny to die fighting a hopeless battle."

Ruby sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she replied with resignation.

Weiss pulled Ruby's shoulder so that she was looking Ruby in her eye. "I love you Ruby," she said, giving the woman a gentle kiss.

"I love you too, Weiss."

Ruby watched as the battle continued to unfold around them. Terran and Remnant ships' shields flared a brilliant blue with each hit they absorbed before seemingly shattering as they faltered under the weight of fire from the Grimm fleet. Fighters ducked and weaved between salvos, torpedoes streaked through the stars, and cannon shells, particle blasts, autocannon barrages, and particle beams tore into the Grimm.

Ruby sighed slightly, pulling up an image of the Vale on the tactical display, showing the ship's damage and shield status. All of the ship's shield facings were starting to falter under the weight of fire. Another display showed the status of each of the ship's fighters, and Ruby felt a small knot in her gut when she saw that more than half of the ship's pilots were lost.

Just as she felt the last little glimmer of hope start to fade, however, her eyes passed over the ship's reactor output display.

"Weiss," she called, "we have one of those new Semblance class antimatter reactors, right?"

"With the Aura containment field, yeah," Weiss replied.

"What's the maximum output the containment field can survive?" Ruby asked.

"Up to 1000% capacity, why?"

"What happens when the containment field fails?"

Weiss shrugged. "Winter told me that they're not sure. When the Schnee Aerospace tested the new system, safety measures forced a reactor shutdown before it could overload. They then tested it remotely in Shadow of Light, and the facility reported a sudden spike in output on the level of a supernova just before their sensors went dark."

"What if we ejected the reactor so that it went through the gateway to the other side? If the other side isn't shielded, it might be enough to destroy the gate. And, even if it is, looking at the shield on this side, something like a supernova might just be enough to take it down."

Weiss thought for a moment. "I don't know. Either way, we should probably send a probe through the gate to investigate."

Ruby nodded. "Launch a probe at the gate."

The small object spat out of one of the Vale's torpedo tubes and sped off towards the gate, leaving behind a small ripple in the water-like portal in the center. The Vale's tactical display shifted, showing the mass of Grimm ships on the other side of the gate. Surrounding the object were six long, thin ships with what appeared to be giant knobs on their front.

"What are those?" Ruby asked.

"I think I might have an answer for you, Captain Rose," Admiral Williams stated as his image appeared in the tactical display. "Those look like shield support vessels."

"What?" Ruby asked.

"Ships designed to drastically improve the shield regeneration rate of a friendly vessel," the Admiral replied. "We tested them about thirty years ago, but never managed to get them past the prototype stage. The ships never managed to provide a significant enough improvement over the ship's built-in shields to be worth investing in. They did manage to drastically improve planetary shields, but we would rather not have to deal with having something outside of the planet's shielding envelope deal with improving the planetary shields."

"We believe that the reason for the shielding providing little improvement to the ship's shields while providing a significant improvement to planetary shield is the shielding beam scatters, causing negligible improvement for anything smaller than planetary scale."

"And the shield ships are why we can't breach the gate's shields?" Ruby asked.

"Very likely," Admiral Williams replied. "Chances are the gate acts in much the same way our phase drives do, allowing matter and energy through virtually instantaneously."

"Including shielding," Ruby finished.

"Which means that the only way to destroy the gate would be to take out the ships first," Admiral Williams confirmed.

"This might work then," Ruby said. "Comms, close the channel. Weiss, will we be able to use the emergency batteries to power the maneuvering thrusters long enough to bring us to a stop when we eject the core?"

"Yes, we should," Weiss replied. "Once we're stopped, we should have enough power remaining to keep life support online for about a couple of hours if we're running at minimum power."

"Then that's our plan," Ruby, said as she nodded her head. "Engineering, start looping the reactor output."

The deck of the Vale started to rumble gently under her feet as the reactor started to funnel more and more power into itself. Inside the core, the containment shield started to glow slightly as it contained what amounted to small supernova held within. The Vale's main engines flared a bright blue, gradually pushing the ships towards the Grimm's gateway.

Admiral Williams stared incredulously at the image of the Vale in the Strategic Command Center of the Athena, watching as the Vale broke off from the battle. _What is she doing?_ He thought. _There's no way they'll be able to damage the gate unless..._

"Sensors, show me the Vale's power levels," Admiral Williams called over the chatter of the ships communications.

"Bringing it up now, sir," the officer replied.

The strategic display shifted slightly as it placed a line graph over the image of the Vale. The line graph was almost completely steady, with only very slight dips and peaks until the very end, at which point it started to sharply increase compared to the rest of the graph.

"She's actually going to try it," Admiral Williams muttered before tapping a control on the edge of the display. "Attention all Terran ships, this is Admiral Williams with a priority Nexus order, repeat, belay all orders prior to the following. All units, commence Ender's Gambit, target R.F.S. Vale, repeat, Ender's Gambit, R.F.S. Vale. Captain Rose," he called switching channels so he was talking to Ruby, "You have as much time as I have ships. Good luck."

All around the Vale, the massive, bulky forms of the Terran ships broke off of their current engagements and turned towards the Vale. As the ships approached, they started to pull into parallel courses on all sides of the ship, leaving no gaps for anything to get through, almost as though they were forming a shield for the dreadnought with their own hulls.

"What are they doing?" Weiss asked as she stared at the mass of rough, gray ships surrounding them.

"I think they're protecting us," Ruby replied waling to the window at the front of the bridge, "so that we can get to the gate."

The Vale silently pushed through space as its main reactor started to grow ever more unstable. Around the ship, Terran vessels shuddered under the weight of the Grimm warships pulverizing them in a desperate attempt to stop them from getting to the gate. Yet, despite the onslaught, the Terrans pushed through, even as their ships started to falter beneath the weight of the fire being thrown at them.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the fleet approached the gate. Grimm ships continued to pour through, being shredded by the Terran fleet almost as soon as they left the water-like portal in the center.

"Reactor's about to go critical, Ruby!" Weiss shouted.

Ruby nodded. "On my signal, eject the core," she said, watching the display carefully.

The Terran fleet broke away from the Vale, giving the mighty dreadnought a clear view of the gate. The gray substance in the center rippled peacefully with each Grimm ship that passed through, almost as though a rock was dropped into a pond.

"Now!" Ruby shouted.

The Vale's engine nacelles rotated, and both the main engines and several of the ship's maneuvering thrusters all flared at once, pushing the ship so that its bottom was facing the gate. A small hole in the ship's center of mass opened up, and a slightly smaller object sped out and towards the gate. The Vale's engines flared again, this time desperately attempting to stop the dreadnought before it passed through the gate itself. The reactor, meanwhile, held its course, and, with a ripple that was almost unnoticeable, disappeared to the other side of the gate.

Almost as soon as the reactor passed through the gate, the containment field finally gave out, releasing a devastating shockwave through the sector with the intensity of a supernova. The gate was the first thing to be engulfed, completely annihilated as antimatter met matter, and the two opposites exploded in a wave of light and energy. The shield ships protecting the gate fared little better, as they too were ripped apart by matter and antimatter reacting in a deadly lightshow. Finally, in the ever-expanding blast, the nearly endless Grimm fleet was caught, and their ships exploded in brilliant fireballs. Any that were not caught by the initial blast were quickly torn down as their fellows detonated around them, until there was nothing left but empty space.

* * *

Admiral Williams stared at the gateway as the portal in the center dissolved. The shield surrounding the gate shimmered a brilliant red before appearing to shatter, and the glowing, red trim slowly dimmed. All around the Athena, Grimm warships all stopped their attacks and slowly started to drift slowly through space.

"Holy shit, she did it," Admiral Williams muttered. "All ships, this is Admiral Williams, target the gate with everything you've got and fire at will. Repeat, all ships, fire at will on the gate."

The Athena's autocannons spat out barrage after barrage of bullets, her railguns flung shells against the gate, and the ship's particle beams spat out ruby-red blasts of death. All around, the remaining warships turned their weapons towards the gate, and they unloaded everything they had. Energy and ballistic weapons slowly carved and pitted the massive, white object. Each and every shot that found is mark continued to slowly tear away at the structure, until, finally, it started to silently collapse.

AS the structure broke apart, a cheer want up from the Vale's surviving officers. Ruby stood there and smiled slightly, allowing her crew their brief moment of celebration.

"All Sword fleet ships, this is Fleet-Captain Rose," she called finally, "Target the remaining Grimm ships and fire at will. Let's finish this."

The Vale sat silently in space, almost completely dead without its reactor, as the remaining Sword fleet vessels turned their guns to fire on the remnants of the Grimm. Beams and pulses of energy lanced out from the ships, and high-caliber cannon shells sped away from their barrels, tearing into the unshielded and dead warships. Finally, after almost ten minutes of nonstop fire, the final few ships crumbled and exploded, marking the end of the Grimm. The Vale's crew let out another cheer, and Weiss walked up beside Ruby.

"So, did we win the war?" she asked as a small smile started to work its way across her face.

Ruby shrugged as she started to smile as well. "I don't know. I guess that'll be up to history to decide."

"True," Weiss said with a chuckle. "What happens now?"

"Well," Ruby said thoughtfully. "I guess we can go home now. As soon as Uncle Qrow gets a support ship here to help us jump, of course," she finished, chuckling slightly.

Both soon-to-be-married officers turned and gave each other a smile. With a contented sigh, they pulled each other into a gentle, loving kiss.

* * *

**A/N: So, sorry if this wasn't the ending you folks were looking for. Honestly, though, I kinda wanted to get this finished so that I could focus on my other two stories. Honestly, working on 3-4 at a time is really a lot more difficult than it sounds. So, sorry if this wasn't exactly the ending you all were looking for, but that's why I'm doing the epilogue.**

**Anyway, up next is chapter 13 of Rose Guardian! So stay tuned for that, and don't forget to check out the Legion205 podcast on Podbean and on iTunes! See you all next time!**


	22. Epilogue

"Captain Rose?" Ruby heard a voice from behind her call.

Ruby turned around to face her Executive Officer, a young woman by the name of Ophelia Nightingale who had just graduated from the academy almost a year ago.

"Yes, Commander?" she asked.

"We're about to pull into dock. Sorry if I'm bothering you, ma'am," she finished.

"Don't worry about it," Ruby said, giving her a bright smile. "Just been thinking, is all."

"May I ask what about?"

"Just the past fifteen years, is all," Ruby replied.

It had been that long since the Grimm were annihilated in the battle that resulted in the destruction of their gate and all of their remaining warships. What few remained were quickly swept up by the combined Terran and Remnant fleets, and, in the aftermath, the two empires had decided for forge a more permanent alliance. In the years since, they encountered two entirely new species in the galaxy, and had continued to expand their empire.

Five years after the battle, the Terran Imperium and Remnant Federation had become such strong allies that the two empires formally disbanded and formed the Terran-Remnant Coalition, a single, united empire that combined the strengths of both of its previous two.

"Was there anything else you needed?" Ruby asked her Executive Officer.

"Permission to speak freely, ma'am?" the other naval officer asked.

"Go ahead," Ruby replied.

"I'd have thought you'd be more excited to get home," Ophelia said. "After all, aren't your wife and daughter waiting for you?"

Ruby chuckled slightly. "Well, we were supposed to be deployed for another week, so they're not expecting me to be home yet. My daughter is going to be at school right now, and I'm sure Weiss is probably pretty busy as well."

"If you say so, ma'am," Ophelia replied. "In any event, we'll be docked in about two minutes."

"Sounds good," Ruby replied. "You're dismissed, Commander. Enjoy your leave."

"Yes ma'am," the officer replied with a smile and a salute.

* * *

"Hello there," Ruby said with a smile as she approached the reception desk at the main office of her daughter's school.

"What can I do for you, ma'am?" the woman sitting at the computer asked, looking up from her work.

"I'd like to check my daughter out of her classes," Ruby replied. "Diamond Rose."

"Do you have your I.D.?"

"Just a sec," Ruby replied as she dug through her pockets, pulling out her scroll and handing it to the woman.

She quickly scanned it and handed the small object back to Ruby. "Perfect, that's all I needed. Just a moment," the woman then keyed the intercom. "Diamond Rose to the front office for checkout, please."

Ruby waited for several minutes before a twelve-year-old girl who had silver eyes and white hair with red tips walked into the room.

"Mom? What's going..." the girl paused as she looked at Ruby. "Mommy!" she yelled, wrapping Ruby in a tight hug as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"Hey, kiddo," Ruby said, pulling her daughter in close.

"I thought you weren't going to be back until next week?" the girl asked.

"Well, we got home a little early," Ruby replied, giving the girl a smile. "Come on, let's go get your mom and we can all go out for cookies."

"That sounds great, mommy," Diamond replied with a tearful smile.

* * *

Weiss sighed to herself as she completed what felt like the hundredth lap her hers and Ruby's house.

_Come on, Weiss,_ she scolded herself. _You know Ruby can handle herself out there. Especially after everything that happened during the Grimm war. You really shouldn't be-._

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Just a minute," she called with a sigh.

Weiss navigated through the house until she finally found her way to the front door. Her hand hovered over the control to open the door before she finally activated it. The doors slid open, revealing Ruby standing in the doorway next to the couple's daughter.

"Ruby!" Weiss shouted, pulling Ruby into a tight kiss, which Ruby happily reciprocated. "What are you doing here?" she asked finally. "I thought you weren't due back for another week?"

"The C.N.S. Artemis volunteered to finish up our patrol," Ruby replied, smiling. "We tried to decline, but their captain insisted."

"Well, I suppose I won't argue with that," Weiss replied before shooting Ruby a disapproving glare. "Though why did you take our daughter out of school early?"

"Well, she's already a year ahead of the other students, so I figured that there wouldn't be any harm in us going out as a family," Ruby replied, giving Weiss a smile.

"I suppose you're right," Weiss said, sighing. "Come on, I'm sure your mother promised you cookies again."

Diamond replied with a grin.

* * *

"Permission to come aboard, Captain Rose?" a voice from the entrance to the C.N.S. Vale's bridge asked.

Captain Diamond Rose turned to where the voice came from. When she saw her mother standing in the entrance to the bridge, she smiled and gave a salute.

"Permission granted. Welcome aboard, Fleet-Admiral," she replied. "Though, I suppose you should be saying that to me, ma'am."

"Nah," Ruby answered, chuckling slightly. "You earned this, kiddo."

"Thanks," Diamond replied, scratching the back of her head nervously. "I hope I do you proud, mom."

'You'll do fine," Ruby said as she placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "You graduated with top marks form the academy, and got the highest grade ever in Operation Black Flag. You're more than ready for this."

"Are you sure?"

"Diamond, as an Admiral, I wouldn't have promoted you if I didn't think you could handle it," Ruby replied, giving her daughter a reassuring smile. "And, as your mother, I'm already proud of you, and I'd still be proud of you if you were an engine technician, fighter pilot, or shipyard staff, so don't worry about making me proud."

Diamond smiled. "Thanks mom," she replied before turning back to the tactical display. "All sections, report status," she called.

"All sections report ready, Captain Rose," the X.O. Said.

"Very well," Diamond replied, turning back to Ruby. "Since this was your ship, would you like to the honors?"

"Sure thing," Ruby replied, stepping up to the display, smiling. "Helm, bring us out of dock, quarter speed."

The mighty dreadnought rumbled as the engines came to life. The ship slid ponderously forward, leaving the now-empty dry-dock in its wake.

"We're clear of the dock, ma'am," the helm officer replied.

Ruby nodded. "All hands, stand by for phase jump," Ruby paused for a moment to smile and think about all of the moments that brought her here before opening her eye. "Jump."

* * *

**A/N: And here we are at the end. Sorry for the short chapter, but I kinda just wanted to give this this thing a good send off here, so I hope you enojuyed it for what it was!**

**Anyways, quick announcement before I go, for those of you who listen to the Legion205 podcast, we unfortunately need to take a month for a hiatus to give our editor a brief break as well as to buildup a backlog of episodes for you guys. If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, please do if you'd like to meet some of your favorite writers! It's been a hell of a lot of fun for me to record with these people!**

**With all that said! I hope you enjoyed both this little epilogue and the story! I will see you folks when I post the next chapter of The Rose Guardian.**


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